Travel To the Past  The Lightning Thief
by CherryPop0120
Summary: The Muses have made Percy's adventure into books! Apollo wants some fun and sends the demigod counselors back in time along with them! It's during the Winter Solctice... many gods are present. Will the demigods survive or be killed by their relatives? Hm?
1. When Demigods Rain

**Sigh... this took a long time to do... I hope you guys like it! Please R/R**

**Chapter 1 - When demigods Rain**

"And at last, all the gods have gathered together for the Winter Solstice…" Zeus rambled on.

**BOOM!**

A camera floated and propped itself onto Apollo's arm rest.

"Hey, this is a cool camera! It's got suns all over it!" Apollo cried.

"Um, what's a camera doing on your throne?" Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"I dunno, but it's cool."

"Apollo, I will not have another interruption, do you hear me?" Zeus said.

"Pft, it's not even my fault."

"Apollo…"

"Fine."

**BOOM!**

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Apollo yelled.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tiny figures dropped out of the ceiling. Athena snapped her finger quickly.

Several sofas popped out and caught the falling demigods. A pile of books splattered onto the floor.

One of them, a dark haired and green eyed guy crashed right in front of the sofa.

"No way!" He said. "I land right in front of the sofa? You have got to be kidding me!"

"Well, Perce," A mischievous guy with brown curly hair mused, "You're not even going to be hurt, much less killed."

"So," his twin said, "You can't complain."

"Good," Hades grumbled. "Even if I don't know what that means, I don't need any more souls in the Underworld."

Whatever that meant, how did those twins seems so familiar? Athena thought. Of course, she thought. A trait of Hermes' kids.

A note came falling down.

Zeus caught it. He raised his eyebrow and coughed dramatically.

"_To all of you gods that are wondering what has happened, I have sent demigod heroes from the future to the past to read the adventures of a certain hero that is amongst the people here… the gods will lose their memories of this event until the demigods go back to their time… also you may not try and kill the demigods or change events or do anything…"_ Zeus skimmed the lines and his face grew darker and darker.

"APOLLO!" Zeus shrieked. "You irresponsible son of mine!"

"I didn't do anything!" Apollo protested. "Well, technically, my future self did!"

"Father, he's correct." Athena said. "And the note said no killing or we lose our memories."

"There must be something wrong with you, Apollo. No killing?" Ares grumbled.

Dionysus sighed and twirled a grape vine.

"Fine," Zeus huffed. "Anyway, the note said to make the demigod introduce themselves but not their parentage apparently. I don't understand that since we're not allowed to kill them."

All the demigods rolled their eyes.

"Well, we'll start introducing ourselves won't we? Our parentages will probably be revealed, but Apollo said that he wanted a show. That's why the camera's there." A girl with blonde hair said. Annabeth, Athena proudly thought. It has to be her. She's become very mature.

"Good taste, me!" Apollo grinned.

"I'm not sure about the toolbox though," Jake muttered, holding up the toolbox covered with golden suns.

"I agree with you," Artemis muttered. "But it's just like Apollo to do that."

"You agree with a boy?" Hermes gasped.

Artemis glowered. "It's more of the fact that my twin brother is insane."

"Hey!" Apollo protested.

"Whatever, are we letting them introduce themselves or not?"

The blonde girl stepped forward. "I'm Annabeth Chase."

All the gods turned to Athena. "That obvious?" Annabeth asked.

"Of course it is, Wise girl." The dark haired and green eyed boy sat on the armrest.

"Percy Jackson. And unfortunately everyone's going to have to hear my thoughts from start to finish."

My son, Poseidon thought. Even if Zeus and Hades are going to kill me, he's a great hero.

"Nico D'Angelo," A Goth looking guy with aviator's jacket said.

"Love that jacket!" Ares said. Athena nodded approvingly too. It has Fredrick all over it, she thought.

"Thanks," Nico said. He looked somewhat worried though.

I must have taken him out of the Casino, Hades thought. But where's Bianca? Guess she didn't come.

"Hmmmm? Are you worried about someone you like?" Aphrodite suggested sweetly.

Nico jumped. "What? No!"

"Don't lie, I can sense these things! Who's the beautiful girl?"

Nico blushed. Hestia winked and chuckled quietly near the hearth.

"Don't tease the poor boy," Demeter chided. "The more you annoy him, the more I have to feed cereal to him! Unfortunately there's just not enough cereal to go around!"

Hades groaned. Persephone was lucky enough to be in the Underworld for Christmas without mentions of cereal.

The twins waggled their eyebrows at Nico.

"Now that's a relationship I don't dream about." Aphrodite shuddered.

"What?" They shrieked. "We didn't mean anything!"

"Finish the introductions or this'll never be over," Dionysus rolled his eyes.

"Travis Stoll,"

"Conner Stoll,"

"At your service! We will provide sufficient pranking services for a hundred percent guarantee!" The chorused together.

"Hermes… what have you taught your sons?" Hera exclaimed.

"Good things, I'm proud of you guys!"

"Hermes…"

"The note says that we can't fight~" He whistled.

"Jake Mason," Jake said, swinging the golden toolbox.

Everyone looked at Hephaestus. "Yes, he's my son." Hephaestus said. "Isn't it all too obvious? Built anything good lately?"

"Yeah, we made enough armor for a platoon of demigods."

"I like your son," Ares said. "All the war stuff is good with me."

"Katie Gardner."

"My dear daughter, have you been eating enough cereal?" Demeter asked.

"Yes mother."

"Good girl."

"Clarisse La Rue," a buff looking girl said proudly.

Everyone looked at Ares.

"Have you made use of the spear I gave you?" Ares asked excitedly.

Clarisse glared at Percy and then said. "Yeah, I beat up many demigods with it."

"Drew Ai." A pretty Asian girl said. She curled a stray ringlet. She nudged a sleepy looking boy. "Clovis, Clovis! Wake up!"

"Yes mother!" He straightened.

The Stolls shrieked with laughter.

"Travis, Conner, please shut up," Drew said sweetly. They did.

"Clovis is my name… can I go back to sleep? Zzz…" He snored immediately.

"Hypnos." Percy said. "If that helps."

"Hypnos? I thought we only had 12 cabins at camp." Hermes said.

"Well, the future is pretty messed up. But that was a good thing that came out of it."

"It turned out we had a bigger and happier family, if that helps." Travis added.

"That's wonderful," Hera said blissfully. "Even if it's a demigod one, it's still a family."

Hypocrite, Annabeth thought.

"Is that it?" Poseidon asked.

"Well…" Annabeth said. "Apollo held back a friend of ours and we don't know how long it's going to take…"

"Is that why Nico's so worried?" Aphrodite asked.

"What?" Nico said.

"Probably," Percy said.

"You're such a nice cousin, Percy." Nico muttered.

"So it's true! Aphrodite squealed.

"Whatever," Hades said, saving Nico from humiliation. "Are we going to wait or start to read? I'm not waiting for just one demigod."

A golden leaf post-it note popped out.

Zeus read it:

_Demigods coming._

_But it will take a while._

_You can all read first._

"I like that haiku." Apollo said.

"Of course you do, you obviously made it!" Artemis said. "At least it wasn't a limerick."

"Oh yeah… there once was a goddess from Sparta…"  
>"No!"<p>

"Fine."

"I'm reading first," Zeus said.

He coughed. "**I accidently vaporize my Pre-Algebra teacher**."

**Verna and Thalia will be coming soon too. I've already planned their entrance. Apollo's techinally the god of theater :P R/R please! Suggestions are greatly appreciated.**


	2. I vaporize my PreAlgebra teacher

**Aren't you proud of me! I finally finished! I apologize for not publishing sooner... I had a pretty bad fever (40° C/104° F) and I've still got the week long cold. Thanks for supporting/reading! R/R and please make suggestions and ideas!**

**Chapter 1 - I accidently vaporize my Pre-Algebra teacher**

"**I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre – Algebra Teacher," Zeus read.**

"I'm sure it was an accident," Travis smirked.

"But it's definitely a title Seaweed Brain would choose," Annabeth teased fondly.

"Seaweed Brain?" Athena asked suspiciously.

"Um, mom! His brain is filled with seaweed!"

"Hmm…" Athena said, looking at Poseidon. Poseidon was indifferent. He was sure he was going to claim Percy anyway even if Sally didn't want him to.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

"Yeah, there are a lot of ups and downs being a half-blood." Katie said. "A lot of times we're going either be killed or eaten.

Some of the gods looked guilty or uncomfortable.

"There are some good things though," Annabeth said. "We have another home with another family."

Hera nodded approvingly.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: **

"You giving advice? The world must have come to an end!" Travis moaned dramatically.

"Oy, I'm not that bad," Percy protested.

Everyone gave him a look.

"Well, sometimes…"

**Close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**

"Will that work?" Hermes asked Athena.

"If your heritage isn't that powerful, it'll work sometimes." Athena said.

**Being a half-blood is dangerous. **

"Yep," Nico said.

**It's scary. **

"Yes," Will said..

**Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

"Unfortunately," Jake sighed. Beckendorf, he thought fondly.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

"Why would these books be given to mortals to read?" Clarisse asked.

"I don't know," Annabeth said thoughtfully. "But there might be some demigods out there who need the information, or there could be more people like Rachel."

"Rachel?" Zeus asked.

"Our oracle of Delphi. She changed bodies in our time."

"Oh great!" Apollo said. "For some reason the oracle can't now…"

May, Hermes thought sadly. Hades shifted guiltily.

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages—if you feel something stirring inside—stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before **_**they **_**sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

"That information isn't that bad," Annabeth said. "Though the downside is, you might make them curious and make them read it anyway.

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

"You didn't warn me," Nico said.

"I didn't exactly have a choice, Nico." Percy said. "We needed fighters because of the upcoming… eh, war."

"War?" Ares sat up straighter. "Sounds good to me."

"Of course," Dionysus rolled his eyes. "That much is obvious."

"You old drunk," Ares growled.

"Wine dude," Nico muttered to Percy who tried to stifle a laugh.

**My name is Percy Jackson. **

"No," Hades snickered. "It's Zeus."

Zeus glared at him.

**I'm twelve years old. **

"More like several millennia years old," Artemis commented.

**Until a **_**few **_**months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

"You just called yourself a troubled kid." Drew said.

"All demigod brats are," Hera said lightly, twisting her locks.

Poseidon glared at her.

**Am I a troubled kid?**

"Yes," Hera muttered.

**Yeah. You could say that.**

"See, he agrees!" Hera said defensively.

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan— twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"That sounds horrible," Apollo shuddered. "Torture!"

"It's our history," Athena rolled her eyes.

"But what kind of person would bring 28 kids with issues with them?" Hermes said.

Chiron would, Percy thought.

**I know—it sounds like torture.**

"You are awesome Percy!" Apollo said.

"Boys," Artemis muttered.

**Most Yancy field trips were.**

"There were actually ok ones?" Demeter asked in disbelief.

"Only one of them. I was lucky enough not to be in a group that had anyone hate me but just once." Percy said.

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.**

"That sounds familiar," Athena mumbled thoughtfully.

"It's Chiron," Dionysus yawned.

Athena frowned. "He hasn't made a house call for ages." Athena gave Poseidon a suspicious look.

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. **

"Way off Percy," Jake said.

"I know that now," Percy grumbled.

**He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. **

"Definitely Chiron," Hephaestus said. "Would he like that description though?"

"Coffee is bad for sleep," Clovis yawned and then curled up.

The demigods snickered.

**You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

"You actually sleep in class?" Athena said disapprovingly.

"It's the dyslexia and ADHD," Percy said. "And I believe that you haven't blessed me Lady Athena."

"Percy…" Annabeth muttered. "You're not going to get on her good side."

"Good point," Athena said. Any son of the sea god wasn't going to be blessed by her at any rate.

**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

Conner groaned, "You jinxed it!"

**Boy, was I wrong.**

"Reckless brats," Dionysus muttered.

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips.**

"What kind of bad things?" Hestia asked. Some of the demigods jumped. They had forgotten about her.

"There's probably going to be some examples," Percy replied.

**Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.**

Hermes, Apollo and the twins shrieked with laughter.

"You. Are. Awesome Percy!" Apollo yelled.

"Want to go pranking with us Percy?" The twins asked.

"After that last incident where you guys turned the Ares' cabin pink? Despite me dying a lot of times, I do value my life," Percy said drily.

"The cabin was completely hot pink and covered with fluffy bunnies," Clarisse growled. "It took a week to wear off."

"My cabin," Ares scowled.

"Why don't you guys like the pink? You guys are sooo strange," Drew said.

"Moving on," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. **

I might have helped on that one, Poseidon thought.

Everyone laughed. The twins were rolling on the floor.

"Percy, you have to come with us," Travis grinned.

"Like us, you have a rare knack for causing trouble." Conner said.

"Nah, besides a certain someone would kill me if I cooperated with you guys." Percy looked at Annabeth. "Besides if I helped you two, the camp probably wouldn't be standing."

"Destroy the camp, destroy the camp." Dionysus hummed.

**And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.**

"Aww… I wanted to hear some more," Travis whined.

"Shut up Travis," Katie rolled her eyes.

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

"Despite your good intentions, I seriously doubt you'll make it," Will said.

"It's already happened but thank you for your support Will," Percy grumbled.

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, **

"Your daughter Hermes?" Hades asked.

"No, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't name my child Nancy if her last name was Bobofit. Besides, she doesn't look like me."

**hitting my best friend Grover**

"The satyr?" Zeus's face darkened. "Why isn't he dead from getting my daughter killed?"

"I suppose he was given another chance father," Artemis said.

"Hold on," Percy whispered to Annabeth. "Where's Grover?"

Annabeth looked around, "You're right! He isn't here! He must have accidently gotten lost in the time travelling!"

"What should we do?"

"I suppose Apollo will find him… even if it isn't reliable."

**in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

"That is disgusting," Aphrodite wrinkled her perfect nose. "Demeter, which one of your offspring invented that?"

"I think it's just mortals," Demeter said."Mortals are strange."

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled.**

"If you see someone like that, it's definitely a satyr," Percy said.

"Though, that satyr is going to kill you when he sees this from the camera." Dionysus said.

"Uh oh," Percy muttered. "Grover is going to kill me."

"You better not have made our descriptions as bad as that," Annabeth glared.

Percy hoped he didn't.

**He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. **

"I should make something better for them," Hephaestus said. "Styrofoam doesn't work very well for long."

**He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

"Satyrs," Dionysus said half-fondly.

"Enchiladas," Ares shook his head. "What is wrong with them?"

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. **

Annabeth growled. "Do you know where she is Percy? I'm going to have to go find her and kill her."

"Unfortunately, I don't know."

**The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

"Mildly entertaining?" Katie asked, amused.

"Basically what the Stolls do, but on a milder scale." Percy said.

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"You should have," Jake frowned.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."**

"In his hair?" Aphrodite asked.

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch. "That's it." **

"He's probably had a lot of practice, being in middle school for so long," Percy said, frowning.

**I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

"That satyr ruins a good fight," Ares said.

**"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

Poseidon frowned. Percy clearly had many problems regarding in school life.

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there.**

"Usually I would disapprove of that, but you really should have Percy," Artemis said.

"Sis isn't defending a maiden! Gasp!" Apollo gasped.

"Don't call me sis!"

**In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

"We gathered that," Hera rolled her eyes.

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.**

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.**

"That sounds fun," Annabeth said wistfully.

**It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

"Much longer," Zeus interrupted himself.

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a **_**stele, **_**for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, **

"At least you're listening," Athena said.

**but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

"Mrs. Dodds?" Artemis asked.

"Monster," Percy said.

"Too true, since I've had many encounters with her," said a voice from above.

"Yeah… hold on… why's there a voice up there?" Percy asked.

There were also several bleats and groaning.

"Help me down you guys, I'm SO not good with heights," moaned a spiky haired girl.

"Thalia?" Percy yelled.

"Thalia?" Zeus asked.

"Before we make any introductions, we'd better get them down. I think Grover's up there too, judging by the bleating." Percy said.

"So that's where he was! No wonder I didn't see him when we got here," Travis said.

"Hurry up Percy!" Thalia yelled. "Or anyone! I don't care! Get me down!"

Zeus clicked and a fluffy cloud appeared. It wrapped up Thalia and drifted her down.

"Ah! The sweet ground!" She knelt and bowed on the floor.

"Thalia?" Zeus said, stunned.

"Yes it's me. It's a long story which will probably come up later but we need to get some people up there down. Apollo said he wanted a show, so he gave us such a horrible entrance."

"Remind me to kill him when I get back," the voice up there said.

"That's uncalled for, voice!"

"What about me?" Grover bleated.

"You're half goat; you should be able to get down!" Percy yelled.

"Oh, good point."

Grover jumped from pillar to pillar and landed safely on each arch.

"A goat leaving marks over my walls," Hera grumbled. "I take that that's Grover?"

"Yeah," the voice said.

"Is that everyone?" Percy asked.

"Did you guys forget about me?" The voice from earlier feebly said. "And why am I mentioned as the voice?"

"Verna?" Nico yelled.

"I'm not good with heights either." She feebly said. "Hurry up."

Verna was clinging onto one of the Greek arches with only one hand. Her hand slipped.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" She screamed. Verna didn't really hate heights. If they were safe, ok, but a height that would make her smash into a million pieces? No.

Nico caught her.

"Thanks Nico," She said feebly.

"SO THIS IS THE GIRL!" Aphrodite shrieked. "WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"

Nico had already covered her ears (because he knew Aphrodite would do the shrieking and it would make her dizziness better).

"What did Aphrodite say?" Verna asked.

"Um, she asked your name!" Nico said. He carried her and put her on one of the extra sofas that Athena conjured.

"Verna, Verna Everglade," She said.

"Whatever, Nico, have you had practice at that sort of thing? Catching girls?" Conner asked gleefully.

Hestia chuckled as she poked the coals that started to gleam brighter.

"It's a trait of Italians! It's in their blood!" Aphrodite shrieked.

"Hold on, how did you know that I'm half- Italian?" Nico said.

"I can see heritages with love in them! Italians are second to French! Aww!" Aphrodite shrieked.

For a second I thought Aphrodite knew Nico's mother… that was a scary moment, Hades thought. That girl also seems familiar, he rubbed his chin. Who does she resemble?

"Silence!" Zeus rumbled. "Or we will never finish the book!"

"What's new?" Verna asked feebly.

Nico told her a summary of the events.

"You better have beaten up her." She told Percy.

"You know her too?"

"Long story."

"SILENCE!" Zeus shouted. "I WILL READ!"

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. **

"She doesn't change much," Verna said from the sofa.

**She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

"I wonder what she did to her," Apollo said.

"All I know is that the teacher had to go to a mental institute." Percy said.

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

"Honestly Percy, you had it good. I was attacked immediately without explanation," Verna said."

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

"Grover!" Thalia groaned. "Way to blow your cover."

"I'm sorry! It was a first for me to be undercover in a school!" Grover said.

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.**

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you **_**shut up**_**?"**

"So immature," Demeter sighed.

**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

"Smooth, Perce." Travis said. "Keep your voice at a level when pranking! That's the basic rule!"

"I wasn't pranking though."

**"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

"Yes," Nico said.

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."**

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?**

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

"It had to be that one," Hera groaned. "That had been a horrible experience."

"How ironic," Annabeth thought. "That the war for him would happen in the same era of demigods."

**"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he **_**did **_**this because ..."** **"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god,**

"GOD?" Zeus shrieked. "GOD?"

"You are asking to be killed, Percy." Jake said.

"Give me a break, I was eleven!" Percy said.

**and—"**

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

**"Titan," I corrected myself. "And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead.**

"I never understood how that happened. Kronos mistaking a rock for a baby? After those times, it's just really strange." Percy said. The demigods shrugged while the Athena was agitated. Did Percy personally know him?

**And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—"**

"As disgusting as it is, I'm grateful for that," Demeter said.

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

**"—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

"You summarized the Titan war in a few sentences," Athena said. Not bad for a sea spawn, she grudgingly thought.

**Some snickers from the group.**

"Why?" Hephaestus frowned. "You got it right! But then mortals are unpredictable, unlike my automatons."

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

"For demigods, maybe." Will suggested.

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"Busted," Apollo muttered.

**"Busted," Grover muttered.**

"I understand why you are insane, Apollo. You think like a satyr." Artemis said.

"Hey!"

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

"After centuries of being a teacher, you'd think that his centaur skills would be better than most people." Annabeth said.

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

**"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

"Chiron has a bad sense of humor," Verna said feebly.

"And I can see you hate heights more than I do Verna." Thalia said.

"It's more like that made it worse."

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

"Guys are idiots," Artemis looked at Apollo. "Here is a prime example."

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

**I knew that was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go— intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

"Why are you always so close but so far?" Annabeth asked.

**"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

**"About the Titans?"**

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

"How would you have known that then?" Katie asked.

"I have no idea."

**"Oh."**

**"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever **_**lived, **_**and their mother, and what god they worshipped.**

"That sounds good, not that we've been to school anyway," Conner said.

**But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C— in my life.**

"Those do suck," Verna said. "So I was homeschooled."

**No—he didn't expect me to be **_**as good; **_**he expected me to be **_**better. **_**And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

"But that was a Latin class, wouldn't it have been better?" Drew asked.

"Roman demigods," Clovis mumbled.

"The questions were in English."

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

"He probably was," Artemis said.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.**

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

"That's a horrible view," Artemis frowned.

"Yeah, no room to grow cereal!" Demeter pouted.

"Would you stop it with the cereal, woman?" Hades muttered. "I won't be able to believe that it'll get worse."

Verna and Nico exchanged glances. Cereal to muffins… they started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Will asked.

"Inside joke," Nico said, and then regretted it as Aphrodite squealed.

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York State had been weird since Christmas.**

"Why so angry father?" Apollo asked.

Zeus shrugged, "Probably some dispute in the family again."

**We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

Everyone looked at Zeus and Poseidon. Poseidon sighed, "Probably the usual thing."

The gods all groaned and nodded knowingly.

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

"Have any of you thought that Nancy is Mrs. Dodds' kid?" Travis asked.

"If I didn't know better, probably, but no. Nancy is a hundred percent human, not monster." Verna said.

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from **_**that **_**school—the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

"Glad to see you're honest," Annabeth teased.

"I'm in that category too?" Grover protested.

"Yes."

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean—I'm not a genius."**

"Of course," everyone that knew Percy well said.

"That bad?" Verna asked.

"Yes," Thalia said. "He either messes up really badly or gets us half-killed."

"Hey! I'm still alive."

"That's because of your soul mate—"

"SOUL MATE?" Aphrodite shrieked. "WHO IS IT?"

"You guys are going to break all of our eardrums," Dionysus grumbled. "All because of the Aphrodite trigger."

"It's—" Drew said.

"Moving on," Zeus interrupted hurriedly.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

"Sorry," Grover said.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. **

"I wouldn't be able to stand it if my dad was about a mile near me, but I couldn't go home," Verna frowned.

**She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. **

"How could such a woman choose Poseidon as a lover?" Athena muttered.

**I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**

"Aww," the goddesses cooed. Ares rolled his eyes, "No more sappy stuff."

Ares regretted it as all of the goddesses glared at him.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.**

"Chiron's travelling in style of my invention I see," Hephaestus said gruffly.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

"Percy, tell me where she is so I can kill her," Annabeth said dangerously.

"If I did, I'd have told you a long time ago," Percy gritted his teeth.

Grover shrugged, "It was peanut butter."

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"I was thinking the same," Grover said dreamily. "Cheetos would have made my lunch perfect… but if there was also enchiladas, it would have been perfect."

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

Wave? Athena thought, she was right.

"Wave?" Zeus and Hades glared at Poseidon. Poseidon was perfectly calm.

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

"Poseidon…" Hades said dangerously.

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

"One of her killer moves," Verna said helpfully.

**Some of the kids were whispering:**

**"Did you see—"**

**"—the water—"**

**"—like it grabbed her—"**

"POSEIDON! YOU BROKE THE OATH!" Hades shout shook the palace.

"That was worse than the one in the Underworld," Verna muttered.

"Zeus did too and besides, the note says that we can't fight." Poseidon whistled cheerfully.

"But his kid is right next to me," Verna said. "How does that work?"

"It'll come in Percy's quests." Nico said.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

"Part of the fun in pranking," Travis sighed, lost in memories.

"You mean all the times Katie caught you?" Conner sniggered.  
>Travis ignored him.<p>

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. **

"Even if I know Percy's still alive, you better have not done anything that bad," Poseidon glared.

**"Now, honey—"**

"She still does that?" Hades asked the demigods.

"Yes," Percy, Nico and Verna said.

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

"Never guess your punishment Percy!" Hermes said.

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. **_**I **_**pushed her."**

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

"Literally," Grover grumbled. "Since she's from Hades."

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

**"But—"**

**"You—**_**will**_—**stay—here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "**_**Now**_**."**

"She wants honey now!" Apollo laughed.

"I don't understand how I'm related to you," Artemis sighed.

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

"It says stare not glare, punk, you need a lot of help." Clarisse sniggered.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

"She wanted to kill you as soon as possible," Will said.

**How'd she get there so fast?**

"Monster speed," Ares said.

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

**I wasn't so sure.**

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

"Was he paying attention?" Poseidon started to get a bit nervous.

"He is," Dionysus said, plucking off a ripe grape from the vine.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

"Did you even have money?" Jake asked.

"No," Gabe… Percy thought.

"Money money money, it's so funny, in a rich man's world~" Clovis sang.

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.**

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds.**

"Alone," Aphrodite shuddered. "Not that pair."

Drew nodded in agreement.

"Oh gods," Annabeth muttered.

**Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...**

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"**

"If it was us, yes," the twins said.

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

"Epic fail, Percy." Jake snorted.

**I said, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am."**

"In any sense, it was a wrong response Percy," Annabeth said. "It either meant you'd try harder at getting away with things or getting away with stealing the you know what."

"Whatever," He grumbled.

**Thunder shook the building.**

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

"Lord Hades would still have sent me to the fields of Punishment."

**I didn't know what she was talking about.**

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room.**

"Do you still have some?" Travis asked.

"Nah."

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on **_**Tom Sawyer **_**from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

"It's a classic written by one of my sons. I don't understand why you don't like it." Athena said.

"It was in English, not Greek." Percy said. "If it was in Greek, it might have been better."

"I'll send you a Greek copy, Percy."

Uh oh, Percy thought.

**"Well?" she demanded.**

**"Ma'am, I don't..."**

**"Your time is up," she hissed.**

That is too clique, I guess I need to teach them something new… Nico thought.

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

"Fury!" Poseidon glared at Hades harder.

**Then things got even stranger.**

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

At least Chiron was paying attention, Poseidon let out his breath.

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.**

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword—Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

"Wimp," Clarisse muttered. Ares nodded in agreement.

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

Apollo burst out laughing. "A fury killing a jar of honey! Muahaha!"

Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Do you still think he's hot Thalia?" Percy muttered.

Thalia wacked him on the head even if it didn't do anything.

**And she flew straight at me.**

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

"The ADHD," Athena said.

"We know that," Ares rolled his eyes.

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. **_**Hisss!**_

Water references, Poseidon… Athena thought.

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

"What have you been teaching your furies, Hades?" Demeter demanded. "They need cereal so they can be less dramatic."

Grandmother, Verna thought.

**I was alone. There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

"Riptide," Percy said fondly.

"By the way, you never told me if you could write with it or not." Nico said.

"I don't know, I never tried."

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

"Magic mushrooms? Really?" Annabeth said.

"I don't know where they can't from," Percy protested.

"If anyone invented that idea, it would be Hermes," Artemis said. "He invents all the legends that mortals think up."

"Like what?" Katie asked.

"Santa Claus," Artemis said.

**Had I imagined the whole thing? I went back outside.**

**It had started to rain.**

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

**I said, "Who?"**

**"Our **_**teacher.**_ **Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

"Thank the gods for the mist," Grover said.

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

"Grover is such a bad liar," Travis groaned. "We'll have to teach you how to lie properly when we go back to camp."

"Travis!" Katie said.

"Juniper will kill you though," Percy said.

"Never mind," Travis said quickly.

"Be afraid of my girlfriend, very afraid." Grover muttered.

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

"Zeus," Hades rolled his eyes. "As dramatic as usual."

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.**

**I went over to him. He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

"Now Chiron can lie," Conner said approvingly.

"He's had millennia of experience." Grover said. "And I'm just thirty-four!"

"You're older than anyone at camp Grover, except for most of the nymphs and Mr. D"

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?" He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"No, he's never alright," Travis said.

"He's the worst, most delusional and dangerous demigod that ever existed," Conner added.

"…I only agree with the last part."

"I think the second one makes some sense, Percy." Annabeth said.

"Hey!"

"Well—"

"This is the end of the chapter!" Zeus boomed. "Who will read next?"

"I will," Hestia smiled. She turned to the next page.

"**Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death."**

**Was it good? I thought it was reasonably ok. R/R... 4 days until The Son of Neptune comes out! Hooray!**


	3. Three Old Ladies knit the Socks of Death

**OMG! The Son of Neptune came out today! I immediately raced to the bookstore and got it. I finished it and... couldn't wait to have more! I was a bit dissatisfied with it... the only thing I didn't like was that my Verna wasn't in it... I know its not possible for her to be in it, but one can still wish, right? R/R please!**

Chapter 3 - Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death

"**Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death," **Hestia read. That seems familiar, she thought.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly.**

**This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. **

"Thinking about it later," Percy said to Annabeth. "Rachel probably had it worse."

**For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

"I see that blondes revolve around you Percy," Thalia smirked.

"Thalia…" Annabeth muttered.

"BLONDES?" Aphrodite shrieked.

Percy groaned, "To begin with, she was sixty! Second, that is just nasty."

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

"I wish I saw that," Dionysus said wistfully. "It's fun to let those brats get all confused over the mist."

**It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed. Almost.**

**But Grover couldn't fool me.**

"Grover…" Annabeth groaned.

"I've gotten better now..." Grover protested. "Well… somewhat…"

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, and then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

**Something was going on. Something **_**had **_**happened at the museum.**

"Only you would say that Percy, how thick can you get?" Thalia asked.

"Exactly," Nico continued. "You and you know who revolving each other for five years straight."

"And as for the rest of the camp witnessing it," Travis added. "It probably made the Aphrodite cabin absolutely pained to see both of you at it."

"I'm so sorry for being thick," Percy muttered. Then he muttered something about stupid interfering cousins. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

"All of us here probably have been in that situation at some point, right?" Will asked the others. All of them vigorously nodded.

"I really hate those dreams," Jake said. "Even if they warn us, it's not told in the best way."

Apollo looked offended, "How can you be afraid of dreams? They're so cool!"

"Maybe that's because you always tell Morpheus to give you the good ones," Artemis said.

"Dreams…" Clovis muttered.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

All the gods turned to Zeus and Poseidon. Zeus adjusted his silk tie and Poseidon started humming.

"That's not new is it?" Verna asked.

"Definitely not if we inherited their genes too," Annabeth muttered, looking at Thalia and Percy.

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.**

This is conclusive evidence that Percy is sea spawn, Athena thought. Poseidon…

"I like this kid!" Hermes said enthusiastically.

"Delinquents…" Hera muttered. "Unhealthy to families."

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

"Now for that one I can understand," Annabeth said. "Treating Grover like that…"

"She actually had friends?" Katie said.

"Cronies," Percy said.

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

"It means Dionysus," Artemis said.

"I wish," the said god muttered.

Hestia chuckled.

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

"Stepfather?" Poseidon said in surprise. Seeing that Percy's face had darkened, he knew the man was no good.

**And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view** **of the woods outside my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend,**

"I'm glad I was a good friend," Grover beamed. Hestia chuckled and read the next line:

**even if he was a little strange.**

"Percy…!" Grover bleated. "Is that what you really think?"

All the demigods sniggered.

"You had satyr symptoms that made you strange!" Percy protested.

"Fine," he huffed.

**I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

**I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.**

"At least you're studying for a class," Athena said. "Scholars these days…"

"ADHD and dyslexia," Percy reminded.

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

"It's probably a good thing," Annabeth said. "You were going to camp soon."

"Monster attacks started happening…" Percy grumbled.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the **_**Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology **_**across my dorm room. **

Athena frowned disapprovingly.

**Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon,**

"Was the test verbal or paper?" Annabeth asked.

"Paper…" Percy grumbled.

"Charon hates it when people confuse him with Chiron," Nico said. "He always says Chiron is a horse-man, even if it's technically true."

"You know Charon personally?" Athena asked suspiciously.

"You'll be surprised, a lot of demigods actually do," Annabeth saved Nico.

"I'll bet he's still complaining about that pay raise," Hades grumbled. "He's been impossible since he discovered Italian suits."

Zeus looked offended. "I like Italian suits."

**or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it. I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. **_**I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson. **_**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

"Aww… Percy wanting to impress a teacher," Thalia teased.

"Shut up. You know Chiron's a completely different type of teacher."

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said,**

"Grover talking to Chiron… this'll be interesting." Thalia smirked. "Eavesdropping Percy?"

"Yes."

_**"...**_ **worried about Percy, sir." I froze.**

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper,**

"Percy's becoming like us! I'm so proud!" Conner wiped a fake tear. Travis blew his nose.

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing," Katie muttered.

"Sure you're not an eavesdropper," Thalia chuckled.

**but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"Good point…" Thalia sighed. "I guess I'll tolerate it this time."

"What are you, a mom?"

"Do you want your eyebrows fried boy?" Thalia threatened.

"Will it even work in the Olympus throne room?"

They turned to Zeus.

"What? Oh… it will, but I'm not sure if Hera dear will want the walls scorched."

"It's ok. I'm fine with it." Hera said.

"Really?" Thalia asked. "Thanks!"

…Better to kill the demigod brats with…

"So we can use our powers," Nico said. "Fun."

"We can have big-three fights!" Thalia said enthusiastically. "I can squash Kelp Head over there…"

"Hey!"

And shock Death Breath's eyebrows off too, she silently added.

"We can have the fight at a break. Now, back to reading!" Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**I inched closer.**

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the **_**school**_**! Now that we know for sure, and **_**they **_**know too—"**

"Why are they even called Kindly ones?" Verna asked, startling Nico when he realized she was sitting up. "I'd have thought they'd have preferred Evil ones of something."

"Mortals made it up," Hades said. "Maybe Hermes had a say in that."

"Nope, mortals completely made it up!" Hermes said. "Though I had no idea why it was Kindly Ones."

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

"A lot more," Thalia and Annabeth chorused.

"Excuse me?" Percy huffed while the demigods and the more humor appreciating gods laughed and sniggered.

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead line— **_**"**_

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

"Do you think that if I didn't get claimed, things would be alright?" Percy asked quietly.

"Probably not, you know that the gods argue and never step down." Annabeth whispered back.

"Good point. And now we've inherited their genes to argue and debate endlessly."

"What are you guys doing?" Aphrodite asked. "Love talk?"

"NO!" Both of them said in unison.

"Wow," Hermes whistled. "A Son of Poseidon and a daughter of Athena? That's unheard of." Apollo nodded.

"You gods will not bet on my daughter. I'm forbidding any betting of getting together or anything related to that kind of nonsense." Annabeth said.

"Hold on, we didn't even start betting anyway!" Hermes protested. "Besides, who says that they're even a couple? The last couple wasn't that bad…

"Hold on, who was the last couple?" Annabeth asked.

"Helen and Paris," Aphrodite sighed. "A cute couple, even if they did die."

Annabeth and Percy looked at each other. They knew by the glance exchanging to not reveal that they were dating.

Not that they were a hundred percent sure if it was going to work anyway.

**"Sir, he **_**saw **_**her..."**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

"Not for long…" Percy muttered.

**"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean." **

"Grover…" Thalia sighed.

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"**

"Nice," Jake snorted.

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

"Percy!" Travis groaned. "We're going to have to teach you the proper way to eavesdrop and sneak around!"

"Do you think that that was easy to hear?" Percy said. "Keeping me alive and all isn't something that someone who doesn't know that they're a demigod can take in easily."

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

"At least you're not completely hopeless like Grover over there…" Conner sighed.

"Hey!"

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

"Chiron's bow is a good one," Will thought aloud. "Though come to think of it, was he allowed to bring it?"

"He probably could disguise it among the Greek armor and stuff." Annabeth suggested.

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow **_**clop-clop-clop, **_**like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, and then moved on.**

"Chiron has senses like a satyr," Hermes snickered. "He's a woodland creature!"

A grape vine slapped Hermes.

"Insulting my satyrs…" Dionysus scowled.

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me."**

"The worst part of being a satyr in school…" Grover sighed. "Repeating all those grades even if I don't need to!"

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.** **I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever. Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm. Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

"At least you're studying Grover, Percy's been eavesdropping," Annabeth teased.

"I've been doing important things," Percy grumbled.

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"** **I didn't answer.**

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just... tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

"Lying to a satyr isn't going to work," Annabeth said.

"But Grover could only read my emotions," Percy said. "So it worked."

"It actually did, because Percy really was tired… emotionally and physically."

The boy lied to satyr and it worked, Athena thought in disbelief. This Percy Jackson will never cease to amaze me.

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

"That bad?" Verna winced. "I wouldn't be able to stand it."

"Someone would have had to tie me down before I could take that," Thalia shuddered.

**my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled,**

"Don't think negatively Percy," Verna said

**Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."**

Annabeth groaned. "Chiron might be able to lie, but he's a bit too blunt on these things."

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

"Percy," Annabeth growled.

"Um, yes?"

"I will find her current address and kill her. Join me?"

"…I'll think on it."

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

Poor Percy, Hestia thought.

**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

"He's definitely now doing it right," Demeter frowned.

**My eyes stung.**

Clarisse and the Stolls sniggered until Katie smacked Travis hard. Conner quickly went silent while Annabeth glared at Clarisse.

As much as she hated to say it, she had to. "That must be heart-breaking." Athena frowned. Hermes and Apollo gasped while Poseidon raised an eyebrow.

"Read on please, Hestia." Athena rolled her eyes.

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

"That's what I meant, you idiots." Athena rolled her eyes. Vlacas… the thing that Chiron probably needed to work on was his tactfulness and delivery.

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be—"**

"Made it worse," Annabeth sighed. Percy chuckled. It had been pretty bad at the time, but he understood what Chiron meant now.

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy—"**

**But I was already gone.**

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were **_**rich **_**juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"I'm glad you've acknowledged that Percy. Maybe there is some hope in you," Athena said.

"Excuse me?" Poseidon protested.

"I mean, at least that means he knows you're not as cool as me uncle…" Apollo chuckled.

"Idiot of a brother," Artemis rolled her eyes.

"But I wouldn't call your mother a nobody Percy," Annabeth frowned.

"Of course not," Percy said. "I hadn't meant it that way. Just, the image as a whole. Especially with my stepmother dominating the image…"

Grover and Annabeth frowned in agreement.

That Gabe is still there? Poseidon thought. That loser of a…

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

"At least they asked you," Hestia said slowly.

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

"Never mind," She sighed.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had,**

"That's a shocker," Will said.

**so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen.**

"I detected some mythology scent," Grover sighed. "In most cases, they are monsters."

**Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.** **I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

"You scared the Styx out of me," Grover grumbled.

"Sorry… I really didn't know that they were real."

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

"That made it worse," Grover added. "It almost made me start hyperventilating."

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much **_**did **_**you hear?"**

**"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"**

"Nothing… you heard everything," Grover grumbled.

**He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers …"**

"Worst lie ever," Thalia said.

"Demonic chickens…" Clovis mumbled.

**"Grover—"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."**

"Worst liar ever," Thalia added.

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

Everyone laughed in agreement while Grover gnawed his tin can, embarrassed.

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes,**

"Why is it fancy script? The demigods can't even read it." Artemis asked.

"It's fun watching them read it," Dionysus sniggered.

"Figures," Hephaestus muttered.

**but I finally made out something like:**

_**Grover Underwood**_

_**Keeper**_

_**Half-Blood Hill**_

_**Long Island, New York**_

_**(800)**_ _**009-0009**_

**"What's Half—"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

"What does that mean?" Grover asked.

"My family's not rich… I just thought that you were similar like me, not high-class and all like the others."

"Ok," Grover said, satisfied.

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

**He nodded. "Or...or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"** **It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you."** **I stared at him.**

"That does seem strange," Thalia said.

"Hey!"

"I bet that Percy's the one who protected you," Thalia said. "At least from mortal bullies."

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended **_**me.**_

"See?" Thalia said.

"Hey, dude. You lost sleep over Grover?" Travis grinned.

Percy shrugged and tried to look at other places.

"How sweet," Conner sniggered.

**"Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"**

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.**

"Things always happen when I don't want it to. It's annoying." Percy said.

"Yeah, monsters actually attacked the camp when I was fixing my hair. It was so annoying!" Drew sighed.

Everyone looked at her.

"What?"

**The driver cursed and steered the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

**We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

"That sounds good," Demeter said. "Not as good as my cereal though." Hades groaned.

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice**_**. **_

Demeter nodded approvingly.

**There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

All the gods' eyes widened in fear.

"THE FATES?" Poseidon stood up from the chair and caused a mini earthquake in the throne room.

The twins fell on the floor, Thalia, Percy, Annabeth and Grover were squashed together, Will clenched to the sofa, Jake laid back on the sofa, Drew gave a girly squeal and clenched to Will, Katie held onto the sleeping Clovis who nearly fell onto the floor and Verna fell onto Nico.

They groaned and crawled back to their respective sofas. Will shook off Drew and edged away. "Sorry Nico," Verna apologized. Nico looked away, blushing.

"Poseidon, you're son is clearly alive, so there's no need to panic." Athena brushed off the dust. "But how are you alive?"

"Long story…" Percy said sadly, thinking of Luke.

"Was that string for…?" Annabeth stopped and remembered Luke. She sighed and took Percy's hand silently. Luckily the sofa blocked the view from Aphrodite.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

"I can't believe you're alive," Athena said in disbelief. "That's almost a guarantee that you'll die."

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained**

**from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"Not funny Percy," Grover muttered.

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

"Get on the bus!" Poseidon muttered.

"It won't work," Athena sighed.

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that **_**snip **_**across four lanes of traffic.**

All of the demigods and gods shivered. Clovis did as well, "Curse, a demonstration." He whispered.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

The demigods chuckled weakly.

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

"I knew something was wrong, demigod instincts I suppose," Percy said.

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"**

"A lot," Verna said, earning a few weak chuckles.

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"In a lot of ways, worse," Annabeth sighed sadly. Athena nodded.

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

How the gods was he still alive? Athena thought in bewilderment.

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.**

"That's observant," Annabeth said.

"Can't I be observant?" Percy asked.

"Yes you can Percy. How did you recognize that when you usually can't recognize most things?"

"Demigod instincts."

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

**"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

"What was the last time?" Verna asked. Thalia sighed and Grover started looking guilty.

"Never mind, I think I'll find out anyway. Whatever it was, it's ok Grover. Don't blame yourself."

"How did you know that I was blaming myself?" Grover asked.

"It doesn't matter, but don't blame yourself!"

"…you're a lot like Juniper."

"Your girlfriend?"  
>"Yep."<p>

Travis and Conner jumped onto the sofas.

"Juniper will be jealous!"

"Grover is cheating~"

Verna rolled her eyes. "Grover only said I was like his girlfriend. That is not cheating. Besides, Juniper's a good friend of mine."

"Already?" Grover said in surprise. "Juniper can be an excellent friend but it usually takes a while for her to warm up to strangers."

"I did a lot of exploring in the forest back in camp and we had a lot of things in common."

"Oh yeah, since you're the daughter of—"

"GROVER!" Annabeth yelled.

"Oh… shutting my mouth now!"

"Daughter of…?" Demeter asked curiously.

"Moving on," Annabeth said hurriedly. Hestia got the message and started reading.

**"What last time?"**

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

"That really was annoying," Percy grumbled.

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

"Which you didn't keep," Grover grumbled.

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

"Which you should have answered me…"

**"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"In case you were wondering, I would like moonlace."

"Moonlace?" asked Verna.

"It's a gorgeous plant," Demeter said glowing. "My dear Persephone grows some of those and if a certain hypocritical lord of the dead will let me summon her up here, then maybe she could show you."

"Fine, I'll summon her after the next chapter." Hades grumbled.

"Cereal, cereal, cereal…"

"I will!"

"Good enough for me, Cereal!" Demeter smiled. Hades groaned.

Verna gave Nico a panicked look. Mom's coming… there'll be trouble.

"Well who wants to read the next chapter?"

"May I?" Hera asked elegantly.

"Of course sister," Hestia levitated the book to Hera.

Hera turned the page,**"****Grover Unexpectedly Loses his Pants,"**


	4. Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants

**I SUCK. And I know it. I know, I know... I haven't updated in like... I don't know even more... I hope this lives up to your expectations... :( I've been busy with school and I have had musical, Allstate (a state choir audition), school and The Son of Neptune of course. Have you guys read it?**

Chapter 4 - Grover Unexpectedly Loses his Pants

**"****Grover Unexpectedly Loses his Pants," **Hera read and shuddered. Of course she would get the disgusting chapter.

"How did you do that?" Travis asked in admiration. "Even I wouldn't go that far."

"Not in that sense, Stoll," Grover grumbled.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

"That is so not smart Percy," Annabeth groaned.

"When is Percy ever smart?" Thalia smirked.

"He'll be smart when he needs to, but unfortunately, he rarely gets enlightened unless we're in a life or death situation."

"Whether Percy is smart or not, he's here right here!" Percy grumbled. "Percy can talk too."

Thalia shook her head sadly. "Be quiet," Percy grumbled.

"Maybe I'll zap some sense into you!" Thalia said brightly.

"At a break Thalia, so later," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"**

Thalia's eyes darkened. Those old days, running from enraged monsters… it was all her fault. She reckoned that Percy, Nico and all the children of the big three before her and in the future would be sharing a similar fate.

Gabe, Percy thought. At least he kept me alive, even if he was a horrible excuse of a mortal. His mother really did make great sacrifices for him.  
>Monsters didn't chase Nico as much as the others since the majority came from the underworld. Being the son of Hades did have its benefits.<p>

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom.**

"Why doesn't that surprise me at all?" Artemis sighed. Grover blushed.

"Satyrs," Dionysus muttered fondly.

**Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

**"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.**

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

"She's the best mother in the world," Percy sighed.

Hera sighed, at least it seems like they still make good mothers in the mortal world. Maybe mortals aren't an annoyance after all…

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.**

Poseidon sighed; Sally was as stubborn as ever and didn't want to receive help from him.

"Why didn't you help her Poseidon?" Demeter asked.

"I tried, but she was just too stubborn and wanted to be strong on her own."

"I can't believe such an excellent woman wanted to be with you," Athena said.

"Sally has good taste," Poseidon said. Athena raised her eyebrows.

**Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. **

What a smart hardworking woman, Athena thought. I'll definitely make sure she'll eventually get a good education.

**Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.**

"That is pretty unlucky," Verna frowned. "It would be really hard on anyone."

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**

Poseidon smiled fondly. "Awww…" Aphrodite said.

**I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. **

"I visited you once," Poseidon smiled.

**My mom doesn't like to talk about him because **_**it **_**makes her sad. She has no pictures.**

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, **

Hades snorted, "I believe that's me."

"There are a lot of treasures in the sea," Poseidon said mysteriously.

"But being the ruler of Olympus is the most powerful one of all," Zeus rolled his eyes.

"Yep," Verna muttered. "They certainly do sound like a certain trio around here."

"Hey!" Percy protested.

"I actually agree," Thalia said. "With the bickering and all,"

"And the power fighting. I remembered the first time you guys did that. It was pretty scary." Nico said.

**and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

"Impressive," Athena murmured. "She told the truth."

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

"Wow, she actually told the truth," Hermes said, impressed. I probably blessed her with the art of lying…

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me**

**on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once.**

"A mother worthy of my creation," Hera said proudly.

"I'm sure you didn't create Sally," Poseidon said. Hera glared at him.

**But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

"Yeah, since Annabeth doesn't do easy," Travis sniggered.

"Unless you want to get killed by my mother, I suggest you to shut up," Annabeth hissed.

"Shutting up."

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him,**

"And that's being generous," Percy growled. Annabeth looked at furious as when she was talking about Nancy. She had heard some things from Percy but not the whole story.

**then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nick named him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

"Why did she marry him then?" Aphrodite frowned.

"How is it possible that I blessed this couple? It's too bizarre!" Hera frowned.

There's more to this guy, but what is it? Sally must have married him for a crucial reason, Athena thought.

Gabe… Poseidon almost snarled.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example.**

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

Demeter's nose wrinkled. Artemis looked outraged.

"This is an example of how mortals are polluting the planet!" Artemis cried.

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

"Nice welcome," Will said.

**"Where's my mom?"**

**"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

"He asked you for money?" Hestia asked, disgusted.

"Yes," Percy replied darkly.

**That was it. No **_**Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?**_

"Not like I was expecting it," Percy said. "If he actually said that, it would have been probably a bad joke or someone impersonating him."

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had**

**about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

Aphrodite and Drew shuddered. As dramatic as that was, it certainly was despicable.

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. **

"How the Hades did he manage not to get fired?" Verna asked.

"Hey," Hades grunted. "Don't swear in my name." Verna ignored him.

"I don't know…" Percy said thoughtfully. "Maybe threatened someone or had some connections here and there with his gambling buddies."

**I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

"He hit you?" Annabeth hissed. Poseidon looked just as bad.

Hestia looked upset. Is this how the mortals' hearth looks? It's not good at all.

"He made threats really," Percy tried to amend, because Annabeth and Poseidon looked ready to strangle him. "Anyway, he got what he deserved."

"He'd better," Annabeth huffed.

**"I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

Grover snorted. Percy had a knack for actually making comparisons that were actually true. How ironic.

**"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy.**

**"Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

"At least that man's semi-decent," Hestia said.

**"Am I **_**right**_**?**_**" **_**Gabe repeated.**

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

All the goddesses except Artemis and Athena shuddered. Athena rolled her eyes and Artemis muttered, "Idiotic men."

**"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

"I'll make sure he will," Hermes said. He took out his cell-phone.

"_Hermes, Martha's harassing me!"_

"_No I'm not, he's just making up tales because he's jealous of me!'_

"_How can I be jealous?"_

"Both of you snakes, be quiet or I'll set the phone on vibrate!"

"_Ok."_

"_Ok."_

Verna gave Nico a questioning look.

"His caduceus in modern form is a cell phone."

"That explains it."

"Hello Fortuna? Yeah, could you please give a man called Gabe Ugliano, I'm serious that is his name! Anyway, could you give him a year of extremely bad luck? This is the dues on the favor I gave last time. Yes, very bad luck. Thanks Fortuna!" He snapped his phone shut.

"Hermes!" Zeus boomed. "The note from the future said not to interfere!"

"I didn't interfere in the big parts, I just gave old Gabe some bad luck! Will that interfere, Athena?"

Everyone turned to Athena, "Since Gabe hates Percy, there's not going to be a difference." She sighed.

"Thanks a lot Hermes, I appreciate it." Poseidon said.

"Me too." Percy grinned.

**"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"**

Annabeth frowned. Brain boy sounded a lot like Seaweed Brain, which she didn't like.

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study." He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines,**

"Bad taste," Apollo said.

"But your taste in pin-ups aren't any better," Artemis said.

"Wha— what?" Apollo spluttered.

All the demigods started sniggering. Will put his head in his hands despairingly.

"Do you have pin-ups too?" Travis asked Will gleefully. Will did not answer.

**but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

"If that was the forest, the nymphs would have killed him." Grover commented.

Ares started day-dreaming about the violence that could possibly happen. Hordes of beautiful nymph warriors beating up a useless mortal… hmm… that could work.

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.**

With the blue candy that mom gives me, literally home sweet home, he thought happily. And his mom of course.

**Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds,**

"If it's that bad, I don't want to ever meet him," Katie shook her head in disbelief.

"Though," Percy said thoughtfully. "Have you ever been in any of the Soho galleries?"

"Um… no?"

"Be sure to stop by there sometime. There's a very interesting statue in there."

All the demigods looked confused. Statue? Athena thought.

**or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

Meeting the fates is almost a sure sign of death… that boy is really something, Athena thought.

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic—how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**

Ares sat forward eagerly in anticipation while Poseidon looked worried.

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

Ares looked largely disappointed, "I wanted a fight!"

"So basically you just called your mom a monster?" Annabeth asked incredulously.

"Give me a break wise-girl," Percy grumbled.

"WISE-GIRL?" Aphrodite shrieked. "Pet names are one of the best starts in intimate relationships. That is so cute!"

We already are in a relationship, Percy thought incredulously. Annabeth rolled her eyes, how ironic.

Athena gave Aphrodite a no nonsense look while Poseidon looked slightly troubled.

"Please read on, Hera." Athena said.

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.** **My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room.**

"Sally does have that effect," Poseidon said fondly. Aphrodite started cooed.

"Aphrodite, please be quiet. You sound like a New York pigeon," Artemis grumbled.

Hades felt a little envious. Maria had died, but Poseidon's lover was still alive. It was one of the big issues of being immortal.

**Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad.**

"That's an excellent model of a woman, she should join the hunters," Artemis murmured.

"What a good mother, I've blessed her," Hera sighed.

"I've obviously blessed her too," Aphrodite smiled. "A beautiful woman."

And I've blessed her too, with education, Athena thought.

**I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

**"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

"That sounds so good," Thalia sighed.

Verna felt tears come to her eyes.

"Verna, what's wrong?" Nico asked concernedly. Verna wiped the tears away and gave a shaky smile. "It's nothing, it's just… my dad used to do things like that too. Give me little presents here and there. You're so lucky, Percy."

"I know," Percy smiled sadly. He was so lucky his hard working mother loved him so much.

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?**

"What a sweet mother," Katie said.'

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

"Boys," Artemis rolled her eye half-heartedly. She could tell the boy really loved his mother.

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"**

**I gritted my teeth.**

Percy did the same, relax, Percy… he's on display at the Soho gallery now…

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.**

"Or a god…" Hermes said. "I'd have thought you would have made her your immortal wife, uncle."

Poseidon sighed. "I would have, but it wouldn't have blown off very well with Amphitrite. I had offered to build an underwater palace for her, but she refused."

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself.**

"You'd almost convinced yourself…" Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Percy has persuasion," Percy muttered.

"Right…" Thalia said.

**I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

**Until that trip to the museum ...**

**"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

**"No, Mom."**

"She can see through the mist Percy…" Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"I didn't know that!"

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

"Not to her. Even if it didn't exist, she wouldn't have made you feel stupid, Percy." Annabeth said.

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.**

**"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."**

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

**"Three nights—same cabin."**

**"When?"**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."**

"I'm guessing that's where you met Sally?" Hestia chuckled.

"How romantic," Aphrodite sighed drastically.

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

"Yeah right, no money," Poseidon snarled. Percy frowned.

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

All the goddesses looked disgusted. "Disgusting man," Artemis growled. "Mistreatment of woman, too."

**I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

"I would have pummeled him," Clarisse growled. Percy chuckled.

**"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

**"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

**"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your step father is just worried about money.**

**That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel **

Verna snorted, "Gabriel? He's hardly deserves a name that has a heroic meaning."

**won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."**

"Impressive Poseidon," Hermes turned to him. "Your woman is more than smart."

Poseidon chuckled fondly. "That's my Sally."

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

Drew and Aphrodite gasped. "Clothes budget?" Aphrodite hyperventilated. "That's it. When I get a chance in the future, I will go to the mall with her and get her some decent clothes. All free for her."

"Thanks Aphrodite." Percy said gratefully.

"She'd look good in anything though," Poseidon said.

**"Yes, honey," my mother said.**

**"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."**

"Why do I have a feeling that the car won't make it back?" Verna mused aloud at the chuckling Percy.

"Judging by Percy, it definitely doesn't make it back." Nico said.

Grover starting chuckling too. The gods weren't paying attention.

"You should scratch it Percy, just to be mean," Hermes suggested.

"You'll see," Percy said mysteriously.

**"We'll be very careful."**

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."**

"That man brings poker to shame," Dionysus scowled. "I curse him to never win poker."

"Taking your money and bullying isn't enough?" Will frowned.

"Apparently so," Percy glowered darkly.

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

Everyone laughed.

"I believe in that concept since Hera said it herself!" Apollo laughed. Hera scowled

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.**

**Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

Exactly what I wonder, Athena thought. What is the reason that Sally married such a scum of a man?

**"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."**

"I bet he didn't detect any sarcasm," the twins sniggered.

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

"Yes," Percy said smugly.

**"Yeah, whatever," he decided.** **He went back to his game.**

**"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

"Seeing through the mist helps I suppose." Athena muttered. "She probably detected some danger off of him or something."

"Yeah whatever," Dionysus yawned. He conjured a wine goblet filled with martini.

"Dionysus…" Zeus warned dangerously. Dionysus quickly changed into a Diet Coke. He sadly opened it and sipped it.

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.**

**But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.** **An hour later we were ready to leave.**

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking—and more important, his '78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.**

**"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

"I'm sure a reckless, ADHD, dyslexic and eleven year old boy will be driving a car." Annabeth said.

"Reckless?" Percy muttered. All of Percy's close friends nodded.

"That bad?" Verna asked. Nico nodded. "Then how is he alive?"

"Trust a daughter of Athena to keep him alive." Annabeth muttered to her.

**Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

"That's why I didn't _purposely_ harm his car, Hermes." Percy said. Hermes looked disappointed.

**Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. **

"Like that'll work," Zeus rolled her eyes. Even if he was a son of one of the big three, he wasn't even properly trained in his powers yet.

**The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the stair case as if he'd been shot from a cannon. **

Zeus gaped. "You were saying?" Poseidon asked. Zeus started grumbling. It started thundering around the throne room.

**Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

"That's good enough for me," Hermes said. "And that Gabe gets a year of bad luck too!"

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets,**

Annabeth winced. She was better at facing spiders now, but she still didn't like them very much.

"Annabeth, think on the bright side," Verna said, seeing Annabeth's wince. "Spiders are good for nature, and they're good insects."

"I know, but I just don't like the way they move…"

"Of course, you'd say that," Conner rolled his eyes. "Since you're the daughter of…"

"CONNER!" Everyone yelled.

"Of a, eh, environmentalist!"

Verna gave him a curious look. "Close enough. A florist."

"Ah… flowers are so romantic…" Aphrodite sighed. "Red roses stand for passion, white ones for pure love, yellow for rejection…"

Come to think of it, Verna thought, the book that had flower meaning back at home might have survived from the furies. She should go back and check someday.

**and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

Poseidon frowned. That was true. Maybe he should make that part of the ocean warmer…

**I loved the place.**

"You like a place with spiders…" Annabeth winced. "I'm probably never going to go there again."

"Mom and I got rid of all the spiders since you were coming," Percy rolled his eyes.

"You invited a girl to your special place! That proves you guys are dating!" Aphrodite squealed. All the demigods covered their ears.

Poseidon looked slightly worried and Athena glared at nothing in particular.

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.**

Poseidon smiled fondly. Aphrodite started cooing like a pigeon again.

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.**

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

"What is with the blue food?" Will asked.

"It'll be in the book," Percy said.

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. **

"You'd have thought it would be green," Zeus grumbled.

**This—along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano—was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.**

"All of Poseidon's women have a rebellious streak," Zeus rolled his eyes.

Medusa, Athena glowered. If only you hadn't followed that idiot of a barnacle…

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.**

"The same things she told me," Poseidon smiled.

"She can't quit the candy shop," Conner groaned. "Oh no she can't!"

"I'm sorry Conner, but she did. It's not a big deal, after all, you two can raid any store safely and quickly." Percy said.

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk—my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

**"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

"She still loves you Uncle," Apollo noted.

"Obviously," Artemis rolled her eyes.

"EKKKK! That is SO CUTE!" Aphrodite shrieked.

"Lame," Ares muttered under his breath.

"So am I handsome Annabeth?" Percy muttered to her.

"You wish," Annabeth smirked.

"Hey!"  
>"I'm joking."<p>

**Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

"Maybe after the quests and the war with Kro— I mean, you know who, but before?" Percy asked the other demigod.

"Honestly, Percy," Thalia snorted. "I believe your father has more freedom to show favoritism to you than _someone else_."

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive**

The Stolls sniggered.

**boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.**

"Dyslexia is horrible," Verna grimaced. "Once again, I'm so glad I was homeschooled."

"How did you learn?" Nico asked curiously.

"I did have to learn to read English at a slower pace until when I found out I was a demigod."

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... when he left?"**

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

**"But... he knew me as a baby."**

**"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

"That is pretty harsh," Verna said sadly. "So that happened to you guys?"

"Didn't it happen to you?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, since my parent had, you know, different circumstances, she stayed a little longer and visited when I was young."

I don't know any god or goddess who does that, Athena thought. Who could her parent be? She really does resemble someone… she thought. But most of the gods she knew had dark hair, which really didn't ring a bell.

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

"I visited you once," Poseidon said.

"It seems like he really watched over you, Percy." Annabeth said, remember that Athena did too.

**I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me...**

"That is pretty harsh," Thalia said sadly.

**I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. **

"I wanted to—"

"Ok ok, we get it, you loved her, wanted to marry her, but you couldn't. There." Dionysus rolled his eyes. Poseidon gave him a look.

"Technically, you're married dad," Percy pulled a face. "If you had two wives, it would get messy."

"When we meet the spouses of our parent, it gets really strange."

"Tell me about it," Verna, Percy, Nico and Thalia said.

**He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

"Horrible!" Aphrodite shuddered. Drew nodded too.

"Like mother, like daughter," Clovis sang in his sleep. "Directed by Robert Malenfant."

All the demigods snorted.

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

**"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."**

"That's so hard on her," Hera frowned. She would definitely make sure the marriage would end as soon as possible if that Gabe was useless.

**"Because you don't want me around?"**

"Percy! How can you think that?" Annabeth scolded.

"I didn't know how much I danger I really was in…" Percy said sheepishly.

**I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

"Good," Hera muttered. Ungrateful demigod brat…

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I—I **_**have **_**to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said—that it was best for me to leave Yancy.**

**"Because I'm not normal," I said.**

"Yeah, you're a kelp brain," Thalia smirked.

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth corrected.

"Either one," Thalia rolled her eyes. "We can all conclude that you're not normal."

"Like you aren't," Percy countered.

"I am so going to fry you after this," Thalia growled.

"Deal. We'll have a big three fight during a break." Percy nodded.

"So we'll see Zeus and Poseidon fighting, huh," Hermes nodded. "But it should be a safe version."

"Yes! Fighting!" Ares whooped.

"Not in the throne room," Hera growled.

"There's plenty of other rooms on Olympus," Hermes said.

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

**"Safe from what?"**

"Monsters," the demigods all chorused.

"I didn't know!" Percy protested.

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me—all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**

All the demigods turned to the gods.

"It wasn't me!" Apollo protested. Artemis rolled her eyes despairingly.

"Never ever confess that you didn't do something so directly," Hermes muttered. "I will have to teach you how to lie."

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. **

"Please don't tell me that's Morpheus," Nico groaned.

"Nope," Percy smiled.

**When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

"So it's like my brother's stalking me," Percy explained.

"He was a mechanic in the other," Poseidon said. "He wanted to learn how mortals made things, so I asked him to keep an eye on you."

"Yep," Percy said. "Definitely an eye."

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth muttered.

Grover shivered. He did NOT have any good experiences with Cyclopes. Even with Tyson, he still tried to avoid hanging around him.

**Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.**

"Whoa… that's like Hercules!" Travis whistled.

"I don't know if that was a monster attack or not," Percy said thoughtfully. "Hercules got attacked by snakes sent by Hera…"

Everyone looked at Hera. "I only send snakes to children of Zeus," Hera sniffed. "It probably was Amphitrite."

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

"It really might have been better if I told her that," Percy grimaced.

"But then, maybe you would have never met us and gotten close to all of us," Annabeth said. The twins waggled their eyebrows. "All of us here might have not been friends." Annabeth added and glared at the twins.

**"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it."**

"We're still better off without Gabe," Percy muttered.

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

**"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad—who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born— talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

"That does sound pretty strange," Will said.

**"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..."**

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.**

"Women using their tears against men," Travis said.

"Travis!" Katie snapped and made several branches from Demeter's throne tangle him.

"I'm leaving you there until the chapter's over." Conner sniggered and whistled at Travis. "Your love is bickering against you."

"Shut up."

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

Aphrodite squealed. "What kind of dream did you have? Was there any love—?"

Percy blanched and said, "Aphrodite, I was eleven."

"Does that mean that you have them now?"

Percy did not answer.

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.**

"The two hot-headed idiots of the family fighting each other," Demeter sniffed. "No cereal for you two!"

"And this is also what happens at camp," Annabeth said, looking at Percy and Thalia.

"Yep," Thalia chuckled. "Big three fights."

Nico was extremely thankful that staying in the Underworld had the benefit of avoiding Percy and Thalia's power rush. Even if Demeter visited.

"You should join us Nico," Percy whispered.

"No thank you and you know I would beat you."

"We'll see," Percy said. "Though we might wreck Olympus if we fought all at once."

Nico rolled his eyes. "I'm more trained in my powers than you guys."

"Fighting with weapons counts too," Thalia added. "So it's settled!"

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. **

Zeus looked smugly at Poseidon.

**The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings.**

Poseidon whistled a fishermen's tune.

**As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**

"Brother Hades?" Hestia raised an eyebrow.

"I hate to say it, but it not necessarily me…"

Athena froze in horror. It couldn't be Kronos could it…

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, **_**No!**_

"Son and father complex," Zeus muttered.

"At least I'm loyal," Percy said drily.

"Hey!" Thalia protested half-heartedly. She remembered the incident she had fighting Luke…

**I woke with a start.**

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

"War," Ares almost salivated. "Weapons." Hephaestus rolled his eyes.

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten.**

"Uncle, how could you have forgotten?" Apollo joked. Poseidon sighed.

"There isn't any hope is there?" Artemis asked. "Demeter, will you please give my unfortunate brother as much cereal as you can spare?"

"Of course!" Demeter sat up proudly.

"Uh oh," Apollo muttered.

A trickle of Lucky Charms fell.

"Huh?"

Then a large cereal bowl buried Apollo in a hurricane of cornflakes, cocoa pebbles, and special K.

"And this is why I never eat cereal," Nico muttered to Verna.

**Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

"Prissy," Clarisse muttered.

Percy sighed regrettably. He remembered the pain of missing his mother when he thought she was gone.

"Erm, what was that Percy?" Poseidon asked nervously.

"Monster."

"I know that! But which one—"

Hera read on.

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice—someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

Everyone raised an eyebrow at Grover.

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover.**

"Ah…" Travis smirked. "So this is when…"

"As I said, not in that sense you idiot."  
><strong>"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"<strong>

**My mother looked at me in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

**"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

"It's kind of hard to tell your mother that you vaporized your pre-algebra teacher."

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

_**"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" **_**he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you **_**tell **_**her?"**

"Grover!" Annabeth smirked. "You cussed!"

"In Greek, no less."

"Grover…"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on—**

Hera shivered in revulsion.

The Stolls sniggered immaturely.

**and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be ...**

"Should be a…" Travis said gleefully.

"TRAVIS!" Kate yelled.

Drew looked ill, "Moving on…"

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: **_**"Percy. **_**Tell me **_**now**_**!"**

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

"About the second one, you survived which should have been all right but the first one if a definite sign that you should be in camp, Percy." Annabeth said.

"I know, I know!"

"Yes, of course you know," Clarisse rolled her eyes.

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. **_**Go**_**!**_**"**_

**Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.**

**Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.**

Conner and Travis sighed in disappointment. "If only there were…"

"YOU TWO!" Kate yelled. She tightened the branches and added Conner to the clump. "You guys are staying there for one more chapter."

"That was the end of the chapter," Hera sighed in relief.

"I'll read," Aphrodite said, putting down her Chanel lipstick. "What? I can read," she said to Athena and Artemis (who were shaking their heads in disbelief).

"HOLD ON!" Demeter yelled. "You need to summon my Kore!" She turned. "HADES!"

"FINE!"

"Calm down in my house!" Zeus thundered. "We shall have a break. Hades can summon her somewhere throughout the break. Allright?"

Demeter huffed. Hades admitted that he missed her a bit.

"Break time!" Apollo yelled. "I needed some ambrosia and nectar!"

All the goddesses rolled their eyes.

"Disperse!" Zeus thundered. All the demigods left the protesting twins behind and the gods went to check on their jobs and attributes.

Only Hestia stayed quietly by the hearth and chuckled. Brother was as dramatic as ever.

**Hopefully that lives up to your expectations. I know this was the longest time I haven't updated... I'm so sorry! :( **


	5. Break I

**Hehehehe... What do you think? It did take a while to upload... sigh... I'm sorry. :( :( :(**

**Chapter 5 - Break I**

"And now," Annabeth said exasperatedly. "Let the big-three fight begin between Thalia and Percy. I will add that I will **not** be responsible for the results in any way."

She turned away muttering repeatedly that it was **not** her idea.

"By the way, please don't trash Olympus before the Lord of Time does," Annabeth added.

"I know, I know," Thalia waved it off.

After they left the throne room, they followed Annabeth's lead (as she knew Olympus best) and found a nice little clearing with a pond and funnily enough, some low clouds drifting around. Funnily enough, the nymph get up didn't pop out, which was a relief. How Olympus worked, Verna had no idea. However, she was absolutely sure that Olympus would have more nice places like this one. After this, maybe she would be able to find a nice garden… even if it was winter on Olympus now.

Zap!

"Ow!"

"That's what you get," Thalia snickered.

"Oh yeah? Here comes the big wave, Pinecone face!"

Whoosh!

"You idiot! My eyeliner and mascara's all messed up now!"

"Yep!"

Thalia charged and both spear and sword fixed in a firm stalemate.

"Tie tie tie!" Annabeth yelled. "Jeez you guys, both of you should acknowledge that you guys have the same amount of powers."

"No way," Thalia and Percy said in unison and then glared at each other.

"Guys, just admit it. I am the best of all the big three kids," Nico rolled his eyes.

"Just because you're more trained in your powers, Death Breath, doesn't mean that your fighting skills are superior over us," Thalia said. "So shut your mouth unless you're going to join in the fight."

"All right then," Nico stood up and unsheathed his stygian sword.

"This is unfair," Will said. "You guys are pretty much the only ones who can do hand to hand combat the best."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"  
>"Other than Annabeth."<p>

"You Apollo punks have no respect for Ares huh?" Clarisse grumbled.

"Other than Clarisse too."

"Hey! What about me?" Verna protested.

"Alright, since all you guys are so fired about fighting each other, maybe we'll just have a combat contest and be done with it." Annabeth groaned. "Now let me think how we'll organize this…"

A few minutes, the first round began. The only people not participating were Drew (she didn't want her makeup and hair to be messed up) and Clovis, who miraculously had slept walked to get to the clearing. Travis and Conner were still tied up back at the throne room. A tiny golden glint flashed from the sunny camera as it perched on a low branch.

The rounds would be done one at a time as everyone had voted to watch each round clearly. (Annabeth put people together by their strengths and nobody protested) Round one…

Katie V.S. Will

Back in camp, Katie mostly used her powers in training, but if she always had to, she would use her sickle (the one she used for strawberry farming). Will, of course, kept his bow and arrow along with an extra hunting knife.

"Begin!" Annabeth shouted.

They both stared at each other and didn't move. Being in camp for such a long time had made them aware of each other's strengths and moves. Will however, had mostly seen Katie strangling the Stolls with strawberry vines but had never seen her in hand to hand combat. This made him perfectly aware to stay away from the trees.

Katie knew Will was best in ranged attacks. Ok, she thought. Charging in…

3.

2.

1.

Katie charged at Will. Completely caught off, dodged and drew out the hunting knife but it was too late. She swung the sickle and knocked the knife away. Will whipped out his bow and notched an arrow.

Katie hesitated. Everyone in camp had been trained to dodge projectiles and she did especially ever since Travis made chocolate bunnies rain everywhere on the Demeter cabin, but she was facing a child of Apollo who had been trained for a long time. Could she dodge it?

Yes, she thought firmly. I've been in the Titan war; I've been a senior counselor longer than Will. Yes, I can do this. Besides, if I do win, it might scare the twins to not pull any pranks for a while.

She charged. Will was completely taken aback but fired the arrow. Katie's ADHD senses kicked in and cut the arrow in half. Will stumbled back but had forgotten about a crucial thing. Vines started wrapping around Will tightly.

"I win," Katie grinned. "Funnily enough, Demeter is always underestimated."

"I beg to differ," Nico grumbled. "If you had to hear about cereal every time you went to the Underworld…"

"Muffins now," Verna corrected. "I somehow managed to persuade Demeter to change her fad."

Percy shook his head in disbelief, "Unbelievable. I suppose you're her favorite granddaughter now or something."

"Alright, alright, next round, um…" Annabeth's brain had already memorized their planned rounds. "Clarisse V.S. Me."

Percy whistled. "This'll be interesting. Daughters of gods of war battling each other."

Clarisse raised her electric spear (named Maimer the Second) and pointed it at Annabeth. Annabeth calmly drew out her knife. She knew that she would be at a serious disadvantage against a long spear and a battle-ready Clarisse, but she knew that she, as a daughter of Athena was better at tactics than her.

Clarisse immediately stabbed towards Annabeth. She rolled away quickly and winced at the crackling electric vibrations it was making. One touch and she would be a goner. She needed a plan…

She charged towards Clarisse and forced her to take steps back towards the pond. A misty cloud blurred Clarisse's vision and made her slip even closer.

"A word of wisdom, Clarisse," Annabeth warned. "Even though an electric spear is powerful, if you fall in the pond, it'll backfire."

Clarisse glanced towards the pond and clenched her teeth. She then sighed.

"You're too much of a wise girl."

"Glad you acknowledge that."

Percy glanced at his watch. "Not even five minutes."

"Next round," Annabeth said, as if nothing had happened. "Verna V.S. Jake."

Jake opened the toolbox and groaned. "I'm afraid I'll have to use two, very sunny hammers." He held one of them. It was completely golden and had sunflowers on the rubber handle. He studied the metal closely, "The hammer's painted steel though, not gold.

Verna winced. Ouch.

If she got brained by one of those, it would be over.

She hopped up and checked that her dagger was sheathed and the sharp celestial bronze cover was latched.

Her father had told her that the touch of her dagger for anyone other than her would kill them. Later, after hearing some explanations that the furies unknowingly taught her (during the demigod versus monster chases), she found out that demigods could also be hurt more than other metals. She didn't quite understand why the metal for her was just like any other one, but she was relieved.

This would be her first time fighting a demigod since she hadn't trained back in camp yet. She didn't want to end it badly.

"One, two… three!"

Verna had never fought a demigod, so she stood still, waiting for Jake to make the first move. Seeing her standing all still, Jake decided to end this as quickly as possible. After a large clang and a fling of sparks from the metal, the demigods blinked out the light from their eyes. Verna had blocked both of the hammers with the celestial bronze cover and the hilt.

"Hold on, bronze doesn't make sparks." Annabeth said in amazement.

"No," Verna said. "But the iron does." The amount of thick stygian iron inside the thin celestial bronze cover overpowered it, which removed the lethal stygian effects and was still as damaging as a regular dagger.

Verna managed to twist the dagger and knocked a hammer out of Jake's hand. She blocked the other hammer with her left hand and pointed her dagger at Jake's neck.

"You lose," She said.

Percy applauded, "Wow, a win against a trained demigod!"

"Don't remind me," Jake grumbled.

"I am trained," Verna said pointedly. "How do you expect that I survived without fighting monsters to get to Camp Half-Blood?"

"Oh… good point."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Maybe I should help Percy rephrase the question. This is your first time fighting a demigod right?"

"Yep."

"Didn't you say that we would continue without interruptions?" Clarisse growled.

"Sheesh, all right all right," Annabeth sighed.

"Thalia V.S. Percy," Annabeth said. "No never mind, we don't need a repeat of that."

"Hey it's odd." Thalia frowned. "Nico, Percy and I are left."

"How about we all fight at the same time?" Percy suggested.

"What? And cause World War III?" Nico said. "I can't believe I'm related to you."

"Shut up."

"Ok, ok," Annabeth said. "Since Thalia and Percy are even in strength then Nico will just fight both of you guys. If he wins one round then the loser will fight the other person. Does that sound reasonable?"

The three of them all nodded.

"World War III?" Verna asked Annabeth who just sat back down.

"If you must know, World War II was basically the sons of the Big Three fighting each other."

"…I understand now."

"Nico V.S. Thalia, one, two three!" Annabeth yelled.  
>Nico unsheathed his sword and stabbed the ground. He hadn't been sure if skeletons could appear on Olympus, but it did. Three of them rose out of the ground and snapped off a sharp rib bone in unison.<p>

"That is totally unfair," Thalia muttered. ZAP! One of them vaporized but the other two dodged and marched towards Thalia.

ZAP! ZAP! Both of them vaporized.

"Ha! I win!" Thalia shouted.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Did you really think I would use the skeletons to win?"

"— I WIN! Hold on, what?"

"You know very well that using magic makes you tired." Nico charged and knocked the spear out of sight. Thalia tried to tap her silver bracelet but Nico had already had his sword pointed at her throat.

"Why are my cousins so uncute?" Thalia said. "And this one's only twelve!"

"Thirteen!"

"You're still small."

"Excuse me? You just lost!"

"Why you…"

"ENOUGH!" Annabeth yelled. The little golden camera shuddered. "Now Thalia has to fight Percy."

(Thalia went to fetch her spear.)

Thalia growled and tapped her silver bracelet. Aegis popped out with the Medusa look fully fledged. Everyone winced or gave a small gasp.

"You're finally serious, huh?" Percy asked. He had been much more used to it than everyone else.

Thalia charged immediately.

"Not even waiting for me to say go," Annabeth shook her head.

"And you're the one that's most used to it," Verna said wryly.

After five minutes of clanging around (Again, Annabeth had repeatedly said during it), Percy managed to twist his sword and point it at Thalia's face.

To everyone's amazement, Thalia just sighed. "I guess I'm out of practice battling against demigods."

Percy tapped the edge of Riptide and let it shrink back into a pen. He tucked it into his pocket.

"I think we'd better get back," Jake looked at his recycled metals watch. "It's been about an hour."

"Uh oh," Verna blanched. "I just remembered about mom… if she recognizes me, there'll be trouble."

"…Disguise…hidden…hmmm…" Clovis mumbled.

Verna blinked. "You're a genius, Clovis!" She stood up and uncertainly walked to Drew. She whispered something in her ear and Drew, who was bored and done with her manicures beamed.

"Of course hon! That's what I do best!" Drew stood up and started dragging Verna away. "Alright! I'm going to bring out my portable resizable kit and use the mini curlers… and yes…"

"What in the world was she talking about?" Percy asked. Annabeth shrugged.

"Probably something to hide that she's a daughter of Persephone or something. I'm sure she'll be fine." Clovis stood up and started to sleep walk.

All of them started walking back to the throne room. Nico looked at the two figures in the distance. He was sure something was up.

When they arrived at the throne room, all the gods were seated except for Nico's least favorite trio argument.

"CEREAL CEREAL CEREAL POWERS!"

"Oh no," Nico muttered. "Not again."

"Do they argue about the same things that I heard during my time in the Underworld?" Percy asked.  
>"Yes."<p>

"Where's my daughter?" Aphrodite asked. "And that other nymph-like girl?"

Percy gave Annabeth a panicked look.

"They're coming…er… soon." Annabeth said hurriedly.

Luckily the trio was still debating about cereal.

"MOTHER!"

"CEREAL CEREAL POWERS!"

"We're here!" Verna yelled. Her hair was all stuffed in a baseball cap which shadowed most of her face. Strangely enough, Drew seemed to be actually be pleased with the effect.

"Drew wanted more extreme conclusions," She whispered. "But I managed to make a negotiation with her."

Negotiation? Nico couldn't believe that Drew didn't add her usual glittery makeup. Something was definitely up.

"EVERYONE SIT DOWN!" Zeus boomed. "I will now read the next chapter."

Verna scrunched at an angle between the couch arm and Nico so Persephone couldn't see her. The only reason that Drew hadn't gone out with her makeup… well, Drew had wanted to make things dramatic, especially if they slept over at Olympus. She was extremely grateful for Drew's help though.

"I WILL READ! **My Mother teaches me Bullfighting!**"

**Do you know why Drew actually consented to that? Well... you'll... see... hahaha :D**


	6. My Mother Teaches me Bullfighting

**Ok, ok. I am the most terrible fanfic person ever that has not uploaded... since... uh, if someone will tell me how long... I'M SORRY! I had been using my mom's laptop, but she hid it, so I couldn't upload it. SORRY! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! (Mine was terrible. Microwaved turkey and a miscalculation on my Black Friday buys - I went to Michaels)**

**Chapter 6 - My Mother teaches me Bullfighting**

The golden camera floated and skipped around in the air. It zipped and then skidded onto Apollo's throne.

"Safe," Apollo chuckled and patted the camera.

**"My Mother Teaches me Bullfighting,"** Zeus boomed.

"Finally," Ares muttered "Some action!"

"Brother," Poseidon said calmly. "I doubt Mother Rhea liked you that much to have brought you to Spain and teach you had to bullfight."

Apollo, Hermes and all the demigods snickered as Zeus's face turned into three vibrant colors. Thalia laughed nervously while all the goddesses tried to look dignified. Hades looked smugly at Zeus.

Percy frowned. This chapter was probably one of the least favorite ones in the book…

**We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. **

Serve that Gabe right, Poseidon thought.

**Rain lashed the wind shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.**

"Insane," Travis sniggered. After laughing at Zeus, he had forgotten that he was still tied to Demeter's throne. Katie made the branches even tighter. Hermes chuckled.

"Ow ow ow ow!" The twins yelped in unison.

"Though why did you think I was wearing shag-carpet pants?" Grover asked, bewildered.

"Excuse me for being a demigod who doesn't understand yet," Percy grumbled.

**But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo— lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.**

"I'm so sorry that I ran miles just to save you, Percy."

"You know you love me."

**All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... know each other?"**

"I'm sure your mom would just let a random kid hop in," Grover bleated.

"Actually, if that kid was lost, yes." Percy said. "Mom's done that for a lot of lost kids in New York now. Given lifts and all that…"

As kind as ever, Poseidon said.

**Grover's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."**

"Stalker," Nico said.

"Like you can be talking," Verna raised an eyebrow that was just seeable.

Nico turned pink. The twins waggled their eyes. Aphrodite looked as if she was about to shriek when Zeus gave her a look. Aphrodite sent Nico a clear look that this wasn't over.

**"Watching me?""Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I am your friend."**

"We're going to have to teach you how to talk," Conner grimaced. "Come to think of it, I have never met a satyr who could talk smoothly."

**"Urn ... what are you, exactly?"**

Dionysus sniffed disdainfully. "A satyr."

**"That doesn't matter right now."**

**"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey—"**

"Percy!" Annabeth said. "Never, ever, call a satyr a donkey!"

"I KNOW! BUT GROVER SAID IT DIDN'T MATTER!"

Grover huffed and bleated in annoyance.

Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"

"And that was the first sound I heard when I got to Camp Half-Blood," Verna said severely to Grover. "That was terrifying."

"What?" Grover said.

"I thought it was a goat getting tortured!"

"What?"

**I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat."Goat!" he cried.**

"Got your goat didn't it…" Clovis mumbled.

**"What?"**

**"I'm a goat from the waist down."**

"But you said it didn't matter," Percy gave Grover a look.

**"You just said it didn't matter."**

"Stop repeating!" Travis complained.

**"Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you under hoof for such an insult!"**

"Yep," Conner grimaced. "So not fun."

"I tried to warn you guys that using a megaphone made by the Hephaestus kids that broadcasted 'donkey' to the satyrs wouldn't help." Will said. "And you guys didn't listen."

**"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"**

**"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"**

**"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"**

Athena shook her head in despair. How would this sea spawn survive with the prophecy?

**"Of course.""Then why—"**

"The mist," Annabeth said despairingly.

**"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. **

"Yes…"

**"We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."**

"If we were going to be fair, I think I would too," Jake said reasonably.

"Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean?"

**The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.**

"What was it?" Verna asked nervously.

**"Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."**

**"Safety from what? Who's after me?"**

"The stupid minotaur," Percy grumbled to Annabeth.

**"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."**

"Hades…" Poseidon said.

"I did the same for Zeus's kid, so why not?" Hades said. "Besides, you two hypocrites made me swear the oath in the first place."

Zeus growled but Poseidon unfortunately felt inclined to agree.

Percy had a similar fate on this one like me, huh. Verna thought.

**"Grover!"**

**"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"**

**I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.**

"I'm not so sure about that," Annabeth snorted. "What happened the last time I went to Montauk? It seemed like you had very interesting…"

"ANNABETH!"

"Do we want to know what happened?" Verna asked queasily.

"No!" Percy yelled.

"Yes!" The twins chorused.

"Immature brats," Hera muttered. "How vulgar."

"That was a rhetorical question." Verna said

**My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.**

I wonder how the strawberries are doing now, Katie thought. At least the Stolls are here; otherwise the strawberries would probably have been destroyed.

**"Where are we going?" I asked."The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you." **

**"The place you didn't want me to go."**

**"Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."**

**"Because some old ladies cut yarn."**

**"Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means—the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."**

"Exactly what I'm wondering. Why are you still alive?" Apollo asked, in marvel.

Percy's expression darkened. "It was a different circumstance."

**"Whoa. You said 'you.'"**

**"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"**

**"You meant 'you.' As in me."**

**"I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you."**

"That was really confusing," Percy grumbled.

"At least it got your goat," Grover suggested. Percy groaned at the repeated pun.

"Boys!" my mom said.

"Mom admitted later that she wanted to laugh," Percy said. "But she just couldn't then."

"Monster?" Poseidon asked.

"Monster. Probably the scariest fight I've been in," Percy grimaced.

"The first one always is," Athena said knowingly.

**She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid—a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.**

**"What was that?" I asked."We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question.**

Percy huffed and the Stolls made faces at him.

**"Another mile. Please. Please. Please."I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.**

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness—the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings.**

Verna lowered her cap. Those features were exactly how she her father died. There wasn't anything she could do now. At least she could visit her father if Nico guided her to the Underworld. Her stepfather also needed to be in a good mood… if that ever did happen.

**My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me.**

"Yes," Annabeth gave him a look. "Remind me how you're still alive."

"My hero instincts. Always trust me."

"And your ego gets bigger huh?"

"Yeah… hey!"

**Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded.**

"Lightning?" Thalia said while she gave a look at her father.

"Yes," Percy said. "Though I'm pretty sure things would be much different if it didn't happen." Maybe he wouldn't have had the quest if the lightning didn't crash down…

**I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.**

"My bolt," Zeus muttered smugly.

"Brother…" Poseidon said warningly.

"Both of you…" Hera said dangerously.

"The same every time I return to Olympus I see," Persephone sighed. Nico rolled his eyes and Verna stifled her laughter. She remembered her mother telling her father that when she was very small.

**I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."**

**"Percy!" my mom shouted.**

**"I'm okay..."**

Zeus looked half disheartened.

"Good," Poseidon nodded.

"I don't remember you being okay with my lightning," Thalia said.

"I think he was aiming for the car more than me," Percy said.

"Brother…" He knew Percy would be all right but what about the other two passengers in the car?

**I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.**

"The good thing is that Gabe didn't get his car back," Percy grinned.

Zeus sent a smug expression to Poseidon. "My lightning was of use…"

"For once."

"THE BOTH OF YOU!"

"Ouch," Conner muttered.

"That was…" Travis muttered.

"Illuminating." Conner suggested.

"The glue of the Gods," Annabeth muttered. "That's all she's there for."

Clovis shuffled in his sleep uneasily.

**Lightning. That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"**

"If Juniper was here, she might have half-killed Zeus," Annabeth said.

Grover sighed. "Why was I so useless…"

She would have killed you for saying that Grover," Verna said. "Does that make you feel better?"

Grover shuddered, "No." All the others shook with laughter. The gods looked at the demigods curiously. "Let's say that Grover has a feisty girlfriend," Verna suggested to the gods. Aphrodite's eyes started to gleam and then eventually she couldn't resist.

"AWWWWWWWWWWW!" She shrieked.

"Another illuminating one," Conner said.

"I'm going to have to make some sufficient earplugs," Jake fiddled in the golden toolbox and poked some iron bits about.

**He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!**

Grover huffed, "Excuse me for being half goat."

Dionysus scowled. "Insults to my satyrs…"

**Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.**

"I agree," Travis said solemnly. "If it was Percy… well, if he doesn't mutter his dear girlfriend's name…"

"Then there would be something wrong with him," Conner finished.

"You Stolls…" Percy growled, turning red. Aphrodite shrieked. "Who's the girl?"

"Would it be ok to say that you'll find out sooner or later?"

"I'M GOING TO FIND OUT WAY BEFORE THAT! OH MY GODS…"

"MOVING ON!" Zeus boomed.

"Interesting response punk," Clarisse chuckled.

"Shut up."

**"Percy," my mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered.**

"Monster," Poseidon gave Zeus a long look.

**I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.**

"That one?" Poseidon's eyes started flashing. "His first monster?"

"The boy survived," Hades shrugged.

"That's beside the point."

**"He doesn't want **_**us**_**," my mother told me. "He wants **_**you. **_**Besides, I can't cross the property line."**

"Mortals who are clear-sighted can…" Annabeth frowned. "Since they can possibly become the oracle."

**"But..."**

**"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."**

**I got mad, then—mad at my mother,**

"To be more exact I was frustrated."

**at Grover the goat,**

"I sound like a barnyard pet…"

"You are."

"Hey!"

"Barnyard pets are fun,

I want one for my birthday,

My haikus are cool."

"APOLLO!"

"I'm older than sis,

But she doesn't believe me,

I'm really older."

"Apollo…"  
>"Shutting up."<p>

**at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.**

"He's part-bull…" Annabeth started explaining.

"I KNOW THAT NOW!"

"Lucky punk," Clarisse muttered.

**I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom."**

**"I told you—"**

**"Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."**

**I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light,**

"Hasn't hit his growth-spurt yet I see," the twins sniggered. A second later…

"Ouch!"

"OW!"

**but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.**

**Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.**

**Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of **_**Muscle Man **_**magazine—bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except under wear—**

"That's because he sleeps during the night, just like mortals," Hades rolled his eyes. "He also prefers wearing underwear over regular pajamas which saves quite a quantity of my budget, thankfully."

"Is he serious?" Verna asked Nico.

"Yes."

**I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms—which would've looked funny,**

"It is funny now but back then it was not."

**except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.**

"Gross," Drew pulled a face and checked her nails. Aphrodite nodded vigorously while Artemis rolled her eyes. It was gross but it was a part of nature.

**His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns—enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.**

**I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real.**

"Which is why you rely on me utterly too much," Annabeth sighed.

"That's why you're my girlfriend," Percy whispered back. Annabeth blushed.

**I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's—"**

**"Pasiphae's son," my mother said.**

"Such an intelligent woman," Athena muttered. "Such a waste…"

**"I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."**

**"But he's the Min—"**

**"Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."**

Athena glared at Poseidon.

**The pine tree was still way too far—a hundred yards uphill at least.**

**I glanced behind me again.**

**The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows—or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.**

"It was really lucky that he couldn't see very well and that it was raining." Percy said.

**"Food?" Grover moaned.**

"Not the best time to say this Grover," Thalia groaned.

**"Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"**

**"His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."**

Poseidon glared at the floor while Zeus tapped his armrest innocently. Hades chuckled.

"Do you think the lives of your children are meant to be played around with?" Hestia glared. Zeus and Hades stopped. When their older sister was mad, it was not funny.

"I'll continue."

**As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.**

Hephaestus grunted in disgust. The car wasn't worth repairing with its owner being such a terrible mortal.

_**Not a scratch, **_**I remembered Gabe saying.**

"Oops," Thalia chuckled.

**Oops.**

Apollo and Hermes doubled up in laughter. "You're awesome Percy!"

"Thanks!"

"You two are so alike," Annabeth commented when Thalia kept on glaring at Percy. "If Hades had a son, maybe he would be alike them too, just gloomier." Demeter said.

Nico choked and Verna patted him on the back.

"Mother…" Persephone said. Hades glared at Demeter.

"You're not gloomy," Verna whispered to Nico. "Ignore them." Nico blushed while Drew and the twins looked very sly and at that moment, dangerous.

**"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way— directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"**

"Action…" Ares rubbed his hands.

"That's very good advice and I'm surprised that your mother knows this much," Athena said.

"I told her some things and she can see through the mist." Poseidon said. Athena scowled.

"First time in a century," Dionysus muttered, flicking the tab on his coke.

**"How do you know all this?"**

**"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."**

"After taking Gabe in and she calls herself selfish…" Percy sighed.

**"Keeping me near you? But—"**

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.**

**He'd smelled us.**

**The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.**

"I am so sorry," Grover grunted.

"It's the truth!"

**The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.**

"Can't you spare the poor hero?" Persephone asked.

"No my dear."

Percy snorted and Nico rolled his eyes. The same as ever.

"I guess this is a tradition," Verna whispered.

"Yes," they said in unison.

**My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."**

"Mom…" Percy sighed.

**I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right—it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.**

Aphrodite sniffed in disdain at Artemis who plucked the string on her bow.

**He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.**

**The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing.**

"Runt," Ares muttered.

"And I'm sure you were fine facing your first hero and all the demigods afterwards Ares," Poseidon said. Ares growled.

**So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side. **

"At least you listened," Annabeth said gently. "And she came back."

"It's just hard listening to this again."

"You know she'll be fine."

**The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.**

"A mother to be proud of," Hera said. Hephaestus twirled his hammer and flicked some sparks out of his beard.

"Hades…"

"It's not like I control the monster. This is also in the future brother."

"…"  
>"Loopholes," Hermes chuckled. "My favorite."<p>

**We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. **

"The Big House," Dionysus sniffed disdainfully, now flipping through his magazine.

"I hope you weren't drinking wine son."

"Nope."

"Yes," Hermes said.

**But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.**

"Yes you did!" Annabeth said fiercely.

"Such a pessimist," Nico muttered.

**The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.**

"Such a brave woman," Athena murmured. Hestia nodded vigorously and poked the coals in the fire.

**"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"**

Poseidon leaned forward nervously while Hades chuckled darkly.

**But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.**

"Hades…"

"I doubt I'd let her die—"

"What?"

"Taking hostages is in my job description."

"Hades…"

**"Mom!"**

**She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"**

**Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply ... gone.**

Percy winced. All the other demigods who hadn't heard about this were shocked. Even Clovis shuddered in his sleep. Verna shuffled to Percy and sat at his feet for support. Annabeth grimaced. She remembered hearing about this by Percy, but since her relationship with her father wasn't great, she didn't have enough sympathy for him and Sally.

"HADES!"

"NO SHOUTING IN MY THRONE ROOM!" Hera shrieked.

"Hades…"

"I'm sure your precious son will do something."

"If he doesn't…"  
>"Enough! Let me read!"<p>

"That goes for you too, Zeus."

"LET ME READ!"

**"No!"**

**Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs—the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.**

"Rain," Athena murmured.

"I think we'd all know that," Ares yawned. Athena glared daggers at him.

"It's the power from the water you imbecile."

"Why… you!"

"Yes."  
>"SILENCE."<p>

Percy wished this adrenaline came faster.  
><strong>The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass.<strong>

Grover started groaning again until Verna shot him a 'Juniper killer' look.

**The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**

"Actually I would disintegrate like monsters, but yeah pretty accurate."

"Hold on, how do you know that?"

"A satyr in camp accidently ate some ambrosia and uh… yeah."

"Do I want to know more?"

"No."

"I do," Hermes said, interested.

"Well, you see…"

"Grover!"

**I couldn't allow that.**

**I stripped off my red rain jacket.**

"Don't tell me you…" Will shook his head in disbelief.

"You've got guts, punk." Clarisse said. "And now we understand the chapter's title."

Clovis hummed a matador tension melody. "Dum dum dum, dum dum dum…"

**"Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"**

**"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.**

"I'm hungry now," Travis complained.

"Do you want cereal?" Katie asked innocently.

"NO!"

"S&M bro', S&M." Conner muttered.

"Why you…"

"Shutting up."

**I had an idea—a stupid idea,**

"That bad?" Verna asked Annabeth.

"Yes."

"Hey!"

"Boys…" Artemis sighed.

**but better than no idea at all.**

The older counselors groaned.

"I take it that Percy's ideas are terrible?" Demeter asked. "Must be the lack of cereal…"

"Hey! I'm still alive!"

"And there's refutable proof that we can't rely on Poseidon in anyway," Hades muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"I agree with Hades," Athena nodded.

**I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.**

**But it didn't happen like that.**

"Because your ideas are terrible even if you survive them," Annabeth said.

"And I've said repeatedly that that's the reason I've got you." Percy murmured.

**The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.**

**Time slowed down.**

"Um, Athena," Apollo asked nervously. "That's not you-know-who is it?"

"It's my ADHD," Percy explained. "And it's not Voldemort."

Annabeth groaned. "Maybe the Greek version of Harry Potter shouldn't have come out."

**My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.**

**How did I do that?**

"I've got skills."

Clarisse grunted. "Any able demigod would be able to do that."

"And I recall Annabeth defeated you."

"Punk…"

**I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.**

"Hey, it looks like I'm helping!" Thalia said. Hera gritted her teeth. Zeus had told her (using telepathy) not to do anything to Thalia, but she still wasn't happy to learn that the girl survived.

"You what?" Verna asked.

"Eh, I think it'll show up later in the book."

"That's annoying."

**The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.**

"That sounds terrible," Demeter shuddered. "I am glad for cer—"

"Enough with the cereal, woman!" Hades shouted.

"NO SHOUTING IN MY THRONE ROOM!" Hera yelled.

"Ouch," Jake said, glancing at the other demigods. He managed to make the metal earplugs in time to stick those in his ears.

"Hey, that's cheating," Conner protested.

"Too bad. These are a limited edition."  
>"Yeah, only one set, huh?"<p>

Clovis shuddered twice.

**The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat,**

"That would be terrible," Thalia shuddered. "My tree having Percy bits left all over it."

"You're not showing any sympathy!"

"Your point…?"  
>"…Tree?"<p>

"It'll come up, it'll come up."

**but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.**

"A little late for that," Athena muttered.

**Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.**

"Sorry! I won't do it again."

**"Food!" Grover moaned.**

Grover blushed.

"Let's hope you don't say that the next time you pass out," Percy sighed. Grover blushed harder.

**The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother,**

"Nope," Hades said. Poseidon glared at him.

**made her disappear in a flash of light,**

"Yes," Hades said.

**and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might.**

Ares snorted. "Not going to work with that runt strength."

**The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then—**_**snap!**_

Ares gaped and for once he couldn't say a word.

"You were saying?" Poseidon asked innocently. Ares' face turned from crimson to puce.

Percy chuckled.

**The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.**

"Don't tell me you're going to…" Apollo whistled.

"Yep."

**The monster charged.**

**Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.**

"That's impressive, using his own horn against him." Jake said. "If we could get a supply of those… we could make some special daggers."

Drew yawned loudly in his face and started adding nail decorations (rhinestones and jeweled flowers). Jake scowled.

**The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate—not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, **

"And that's going to happen to us satyrs if we drink nectar or ambrosia," Grover said.

"Hmm… sounds interesting," Travis smoothed his chin.

"OW!"

**blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.**

"Yep."

**The monster was gone.**

**The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance.**

Zeus scowled. If only he could use his master bolt… but the ancient rules forbid him to.

**I smelled like livestock**

"Thanks a lot Grover," Percy groaned.

"It's wonderful!"

"Not to humans."

**and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open.**

"But it can't beat the time Athena was born," Hermes said. Percy chuckled as Athena scowled, making him feel better.

**I was weak and scared and trembling with grief I'd just seen my mother vanish.**

Hestia frowned as Percy did as well again.

**I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm house.**

"Don't insult my design," Dionysus scowled.

**I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover—I wasn't going to let him go.**

**The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man**

"And what will be your description of me?" Annabeth gave him a look. Percy rolled his eyes, remembering his thoughts. Then he blushed slightly.

**and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's.**

Annabeth blushed a bit. "You thought I was as pretty as a princess."

Aphrodite looked ecstatic while Athena looked the opposite. Aphrodite even started cooing. (Just like her doves, Athena complained later). Poseidon chuckled.

The Stolls copied Aphrodite and earned two branch slaps (Ow, ow!) from Katie.

"Very flattering, Percy." Verna teased the older (and blushing) counselor.

"Shut up."

Both Nico and Thalia smirked. All the other counselors shared knowing looks.

Apollo and Hermes snickered and completely forgot about Percy's mother. The other gods even started smirking at the horrified (and gaping) Athena.

Zeus chuckled. "We'll talk about this later. Let me read first."

**They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."**

"The One?" Nico and Verna chorused then glanced at each other in surprise.

"Anyway," Nico coughed. "The one?"

"I didn't mean it that way! I was talking about the prophe—"

"Good," Athena muttered.

"But in the end it did turn about to be both 'ones' anyway," Annabeth tousled Percy's hair when the gods weren't looking.

**"Silence, Annabeth,"**

"Yeah Annabeth," Travis sniggered. "Be quiet cause' Zeus said so."  
>"OW! That is getting SO old!"<p>

"I'll let you out…"

"Yeah!"

"Soon."

"Huh?"

**the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."**

"That's the end of the chapter," Zeus boomed. "Who will now read?"

"I'll read now father," Thalia said. Zeus turned the book to human size and sent a gust of wind to let it gracefully land in her hands.

"Drama queen," Hades muttered. Zeus scowled.

"**I Play Pinochle With a Horse," **Thalia read.

**I hope that satisfied you! I'm getting started on the next chapter now~ X( X( X(**


	7. I Play Pinochle with a Horse

**Sorry :( I suppose I was kind of slow on this update... sigh~ I had midterm tests and a large essay to write. Sorry :(  
>To people reading this first before my other story, it'll be better if you read the other one first, otherwise this one might a bit confusing with my OCC in it. :)<strong>

**Thanks for your support! I appreciate reviews very much. :D **

**Chapter 7 - I Play Pinochle with a Horse**

"**I Play Pinochle With a Horse," **Thalia read. "Um, I don't think Chiron's going to like that."

"Hold on, is that legal?" Will asked. "Percy's underage…"

"When playing with the horse-man and me, the rules go out the window," Dionysus glared. "I hope you are more competent than the last one."

"Even though this already happened, what happened to the last one," Percy asked Annabeth.

"Short nasty story. Dionysus almost permanently made a demigod crazy. But then Zeus said that he wasn't allowed to do that."

**I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.**

"Sorry," Grover said sheepishly.

"S' okay. Reality is weirder sometimes though." Annabeth gave him an odd look.

"And you say that you have no imagination. That's quite an unusual dream compared to last times…"

"HEY!"

**I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense,**

"Eh, I think that was the satyrs shifting the posters and furniture." Grover said. "I think Dionysus suggested it."  
>"And at a convenient time too," Percy glared.<p>

**so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, only it was pudding.**

"Ambrosia," Apollo sighed. "The best thing next to hot girls…"

"I recall that demigods take after their godly parent. Is Will the same as Apollo's tendency to 'go around' scouting?" Hermes asked, smirking. The twins grinned with glee. For one, they had finally managed to get out of the apple branches and two, they enjoyed teasing everyone.

"Yep." They chorused. Will seemed very interested in his bow. Katie whipped around so fast she fell over. Travis scooped her up and patted her head mockingly.

"I'll let it go for now," Katie huffed. Aphrodite felt that she was on her cooing level, an excellent sign. Athena felt like this was not good, and if something fluffy happened again, there would be trouble.

**The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.**

"OH MY GODS! THE FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE EFFECT!" Aphrodite shrieked. After everyone got their bearings, Athena sat up straighter and glared at her.

"For your information, the correct term is transference," Athena said crisply. "And the real Florence Nightingale effect means chronic fatigue syndrome. Are you trying to imply that my daughter has that? And that sea spawn." She added later as an afterthought.

"Whatever," Aphrodite clasped her hands and tilted her head to the side dreamily.

Athena started cursing under her breath. Annabeth looked uncertainly at everyone as Percy held her hand for a moment.

"Athena is going to kill you when they find out," Nico said smirking, walking over to Percy's sofa and sitting on the armrest.

"And why are you over here?" Percy said wryly. Nico looked away quickly. Percy had grown a lot more observant over these 'matters' after dating Annabeth, especially since it wasn't his own Rachel/Annabeth problem.

**When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"**

"Did you have to ask him when he wasn't fully recovered?" Thalia rolled her eyes. "I know that you're a child of Athena, but really?"

"Yes."

**I managed to croak, "What?"**

"And now you're a frog?" Jake asked.

"Yes."

"Croak," Clovis turned over.

**She looked around, as if afraid someone would over hear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"**

**"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't..."**

**Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.**

"Nice way to shut the guy up," Hermes smirked.

**The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.**

"Miss her?" Thalia asked.  
>"Shut up."<br>"I'll take it as a yes."

**A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes- at least a dozen of them- on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands.**

"A dozen? Your eyesight must have been terrible at that time." Artemis said.

"The Minotaur isn't easy as someone's first try," Percy said.

**When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance.**

"Dionysus complained and moved you a lot," Grover explained.

**The breeze smelled like strawberries.**

"Your favorite scent," Conner nudged Travis.

"Shut it."

**There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest.**

"How do you know that?" Demeter shuddered.

"I've seen scorpions before. Does that work?"

**My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.**

"That's annoying when it happens when I wake up," Jake nodded. "Especially sleeping at strange hours."

Drew tutted.

**On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry.**

"Classy," Jake snorted. "Who did that?"

"One of the satyrs," Annabeth said.

**My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.**

"And you just took it," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Well it was for me!"

**"Careful," a familiar voice said.**

**Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week.**

"It was only a few days, not a week." Grover said.

"Still…" Percy frowned.

"It was the least I could do."

**Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD.**

"Which won't stay on when I want to go to the forest," Verna grumbled.

"So what," Travis looked morally offended. "I think that dress is sexy."

"Excuse me?"

All the demigods laughed except for Nico who glared at him.

"I'm thirteen!" The other demigods laughed even more.

"Fine fine," He threw his hands up in surrender. "Wouldn't want your boyfriend glaring at me," he whispered to Nico.

"Excuse me?" Nico said indignantly.

"Your blushing is moving your position."

"What's going on?" Athena asked warily.

"Inside joke," Conner sniggered.

**Just plain old Grover, Not the goat boy.**

"HEY! Thalia and you are MORE alike than I think!"

"Hey!" They both chorused. Then they glared at each other.

**So maybe I'd had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason. And...**

"No, Percy," Annabeth squeezed his hand gently. "But she was fine."

**"You saved my life," Grover said. "I... well, the least I could do ... I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this."**

**Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap.**

**Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood.**

"Can I have it?" Jake asked. "To make a special type of weapon."

"If the Hermes cabin haven't stolen it back at camp now."

**It hadn't been a nightmare.**

**"The Minotaur," I said.**

"Percy…"

"We were in camp so it didn't matter in the beginning ANYWAY!"

"All right, all right, sheesh."

"Percy's got an attitude."

"Hey!"  
><strong>"Urn, Percy, it isn't a good idea-"<strong>

"But it's not the gods," Percy rolled his eyes.

**"That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull."**

**Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"**

**"My mom. Is she really ..."**

**He looked down.**

Percy looked down as well. Verna patted his leg.

**I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. **

Thalia snorted, "That's me."

**Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.**

"You thought I was beautiful," Thalia gave him an odd look. Percy snorted.

Verna was of course confused, but she knew she would understand is soon… hopefully.

**My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.**

"Wow Percy. You're a pretty romantic person." Nico said. "With all the cheesy poetry and description."

"Thanks," Percy snorted. "You're such a nice cousin."

"Yep. But that's probably Will's job."  
>"…What?"<p>

**"I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm- I'm the worst satyr in the world."**

"You are not," Annabeth said severely.

"I take it that you have terrible self-esteem?" Apollo asked.

Artemis gave him a look. "You are so…"

"Apollo is cool,

He's always self-confident,

His music is great!"

"…late…"

"That was terrible," Drew muttered after a long moment. "Do you make poems like that Will?"

Will chose not to answer.

**He moaned,**

The twins sniggered. Katie wacked Travis on the head.

**stomping his foot so hard it came off. I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole.**

"Those flimsy articles," Hephaestus grunted. "I have to invent something more efficient. But there's just not enough time!" Jake nodded vigorously.  
>Ares yawned loudly and Clarisse snorted.<p>

Aphrodite sighed dreamily, "Two men fighting over me."

"Boys…" Artemis sighed. "And an idiot of a girl."

All of the gods glared at Artemis.

**"Oh, Styx!" he mumbled.**

"You cussed," Annabeth said, not sure what else to say.

"A terrible influence on the children besides dirtying my walls," Hera glared at Grover who shuddered.

**Thunder rolled across the clear sky.**

**As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it.**

**Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head.**

"Um, I'm not sure if I'd like that," Grover said uncertainly. The twins grinned in glee at Grover.

"Oh great, now I can't sleep for weeks now Percy."

"Eh… sorry."

**But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed,**

"Hey!" Grover protested.

"I had a reason."

**or even minotaurs.**

"It wouldn't be happy to hear you say that," Verna said wryly.

"It?" Nico asked.

"I don't think anyone's lived long enough to check its gender."

"…Good point."

**All that meant was my mom really had been squeezed into nothingness,**

"Of course not," Clarisse rolled her eyes.

"Which is why you're a Seaweed Brain," Annabeth muttered and then smiled.

**dissolved into yellow light.**

"Technically yes," Hades rolled his eyes.

"It's YOUR fault," Poseidon growled.

"No FIGHTING!" Hera yelled. Hestia sighed while Ares pouted in disappointment.

**I was alone. An orphan.**

"No one in camp is an orphan," Athena explained. "They technically have one—"

"Quit the yapping," Dionysus yawned luxuriously. Athena glared.

**I would have to live with ... Smelly Gabe?**

"NO!" Poseidon and all the demigods who cared yelled. (Exceptions were Drew who was bored and Clovis who shuffled in his sleep and the outburst.)

**No. That would never happen.**

"Glad you acknowledge that," Poseidon muttered.

**I would live on the streets first.**

Like Tyson, Poseidon thought sadly. But it was the way of the demigod world. Live or die.

**I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army. I'd do something.**

Ares whistled. "Glad to see that there's some hope in for your bravery moves."

"And for this time I actually get on his good side," Percy whispered to Annabeth who gave a small smile.

"Or you could just stay at camp. Same difference."

**Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid- poor goat, satyr, whatever- looked as if he expected to be hit.**

"Yes. By two gods."

"My dad and…?"

"Dionysus. He wanted a good record from me afterward the 'last incident'" (Grover made quotation marks while looking at Thalia guiltily. "So that's basically bad."

**I said, "It wasn't your fault."**

"Yes it was!"

**"Yes, it was. I was supposed to **_**protect **_**you."**

"You never change Grover." Katie shook her head.

**"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"**

**"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least... I was."**

**"But why ..." I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming.**

"The first battle is always terrifying," Jake nodded.

**"Don't strain yourself," Grover said. "Here." He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips.**

**I recoiled at the taste,**

"Why?" Verna asked. "I thought nectar was supposed to taste good."

**because I was expecting apple juice.**

"Oh," Hermes nodded. "Understandable."

Demeter looked mildly offended and plucked a ripe rosy apple off her throne.

**It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies.**

"Hmm," Apollo grinned. "I think I'm inspired by that for another haiku…"

Thalia groaned.

"APOLLO!"  
>"Or perhaps a nice limerick for dear sis…"<p>

"APOLLO! I WILL NOT HAVE—"

"Sorry!"

**And not just any cookies- my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies,**

Verna felt rather wistful at Percy's good fortune to have a real mother. Despite Persephone living with her father for periods of time when she was young, she never really got the mother and daughter relationship properly. She was also feeling grateful for her father's will to take care of a daughter that was hard to take care of.

**buttery and hot, with the chips still melting.**

Ms. Jackson was always very nice, Nico thought. Whenever he 'passed by' he'd always feel like he was at home.

**Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. My grief didn't go away,**

Verna completely understood. When her father died, she had been in a terrible state and could barely move on until Hades had sent monsters to toughen her up. She didn't have time to grieve with all the monsters coming. She remembered seeing in the newspaper of a terrible fire back home at Mt. St. Helens. The terrible trip of monsters took an entire year to navigate.

**but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay.**

"Are you guys going to laugh at the cheesiness?" Percy eyed all the demigods.  
>"In this kind of occasion, even we'd be serious," Travis gestured to Conner and himself.<p>

Dionysus yawned loudly while Ares looked indecisive about laughing or not.

**Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted.**

"Nectar," Hermes sighed, remembering how much spam he got in his phone because of all the ads from it.

**"Was it good?" Grover asked.**

**I nodded.**

"It wouldn't be nectar if it tasted bad," Hades rolled his eyes.

**"What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty.**

"I wasn't wistful," Grover said. "More like I was curious."

"Right…"

**"Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste."**

"Unless you plan to kill me, never let a satyr taste nectar."

**His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just... wondered."**

"My point exactly."

"No one said otherwise Grover," Annabeth said.

**"Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Home made."**

"Those are good," Nico sighed. The gods stared at him.

"What? Demigods visit around in the mortal world like anyone else."

"I have not met a demigod other than you who vaporizes on the escape ladder," Percy muttered.

**He sighed. "And how do you feel?"**

**"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."**

The demigods all sniggered and the more considerate gods looked pleased.

"I'm still up for finding her and killing her," Annabeth said innocently.

"I don't think she's at Yancy Academy anymore." Percy said.

**"That's good," he said. "That's good. I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff."**

"It's…"

"I KNOW NOW!"

"Sheesh Kelp. Let me read," Thalia said.

**"What do you mean?"**

**He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."**

"Brats brats brats." Dionysus complained darkly.

**The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.**

"Insulting my design," Dionysus scowled.

**My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go.**

All the older demigods nodded knowingly. Hera huffed. Demigods putting up a dramatic show…

**As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.**

"And died slowly and painfully," Conner sniggered. Percy huffed.

**We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture, an open-air pavilion,**

Persephone sighed. She always liked visiting Camp Half-Blood, especially with the nymphs.

**an amphitheater, a circular arena, except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun.**

"The completely opposite of mine," Verna muttered. "The sky was thundering, monsters were chasing after me and then there was a goat being tortured in the background. Terrible."

The demigods sniggered at Grover.

"Hey! I'm sorry!"

**In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake.**

Annabeth blushed as she remembered the underwater kiss.

**Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods.**

Drew sighed, "The classical love chase…"

"Actually, Travis and Conner broke into the mechanic shop," Jake glared at them.

"We still have the magic items we stole~"

**Some shot targets at an archery range.**

Will grinned. That was his speed.

**Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating,**

"I doubt that I'd have time to interfere with your brain while I was at a critical point in pinochle." Dionysus sniffed disdainfully.

**some of their horses had wings.**

"My first view of camp," Percy grinned.

**Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table.**

"Match-point," Dionysus sipped his coke with his poker face on.

**The blond-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding was leaning on the**

**porch rail next to them.**

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It." Annabeth growled to the twins. "I only wanted to know if you were the one—"

Aphrodite almost fainted from hyperventilation.

"For the prophecy."

Percy almost stopped. He suddenly remembered his description of Dionysus.

**The man facing me was small, but porky.**

Dionysus snapped the tab off the coke can and looked up.

**He had a red nose,**

"Been drinking son?" Zeus growled.

"Uh… no father."

**big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels- what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs.**

Thalia choked and everyone burst out laughing.

"Classic," Hermes wiped away fake tears.

An insult to her stepson, Hera thought smugly. And true too.

"I see where he gets his humor from," Hestia chuckled at Poseidon.

Dionysus's face turned puce. "PETER JOHNSON…"

"Percy Jackson."

"WHICHEVER YOU UPSTART!"

**That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park.**

"It's not my fault! Those are my thoughts!"

"How many gods have you offended now?" Thalia snorted.

Dionysus started shuddering up and down on his throne.

"Action!" Ares murmured.

**He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my step father.**

"Oh yes," Dionysus growled. "That's me."

**"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite.**

Dionysus started to look comfortably normal again.

**The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper,**

"Not just a camper," Verna raised an eyebrow. "Somebody's boyfriend too."

"More like I was senior counselor."

**but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron..."**

**He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.**

**First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard.**

"He would NOT like that," Thalia sniggered, interrupting herself.

"I don't think he'd care that much," Percy shrugged. "I mean, being the Son of Kronos is pretty much an insult."

**"Mr. Brunner!" I cried.**

"A little late Percy," Nico said wryly.

"Shut up."

**The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers **_**B**_**.**

"He does that?" Annabeth mused. "That's the first time for me hearing about it."

"Makes the more nerdy ones crazy," Percy chuckled.

"Hey," Annabeth pouted.

**"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."**

"Hold on," Verna said. "Is that even allowed?"

"For Mr. D, yes."

**He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."**

Dionysus sniffed. "I see I was in a good mood that day."

Demeter gave him an odd stare. "More like I see you're in need of my cereal and not your wine."

Zeus nodded vigorously. "Go ahead Demeter."

"Hold on. NOOOOOO!"

Dionysus was clumped in a pile of cereal that fortunately did not reach the demigods.

"He'll be stuck in there for a few minutes. The cereal is whole wheat honeyed crisps. My specialty."  
>Nico shuddered.<p>

"Ultimate torture," Percy muttered.

"Boys," Artemis rolled her eyes.

**"Uh, thanks." I scooted a little farther away from him because, **_**if **_**there was one thing I had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.**

"Probably the only thing that was good thing I learned," Percy snorted skeptically.

Everyone heard Mr. D mumbling something indistinctable from the cereal.

**"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.**

"Blond girl? That makes me sound stupid."

"I'm sorry!"

**She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy.**

"And we're not going to let it go for a while, punk," Clarisse grinned.

"Hear, hear!" the twins chorused.

SLAP!

"Ow!"

"Ouch! Jeez, Katie."

**Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."**

"Cabin Eleven was actually kind of nice. Yes, crowded, but more family like," Percy mused. Hera managed a grimaced smile.

"My wallet getting stolen was not fun," Nico scowled.

"There was nothing in it," Travis waved it off.

"Then I'm glad I never stayed there," Verna snorted.

"Hey!"

"It's too crowded," Hermes said. "I keep reminding you guys to claim your kids, but no! You never do!"

The older counselors stiffened at the reminder of the last war.

Luke… Annabeth thought sadly.

**Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron."**

**She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller,**

"That's… gratifying," Artemis smirked. "Nice to see that there are still girls do their work."

**and a whole lot more athletic looking.**

Athena nodded proudly.

**With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like,**

"I am nothing like those airheads," Annabeth scowled.

"Glad I'm not blonde," Thalia chuckled.

"I was just saying that you looked… never mind."

"That's a complement, hon'." Drew said helpfully.

Annabeth scowled even deeper.

**except her eyes ruined the image.**

"And you ruined it," Conner shook his head sadly. "We've got to teach you more about tactlessness."

"I thought my mother just died and you mention tactlessness?"

**They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.**

"Flattering," Annabeth grinned.

"And what were you thinking of me?"

"That you were the hero of the prophecy."

"Sure~"

**She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, **_**You killed a minotaur! **_**or **_**Wow, you're so awesome! **_**or something like that.**

"In your dreams, sea spawn." Athena said. "My children will not sink so low."

All the demigods and most of the gods started laughing at the indignant Percy and offended looking Poseidon.

"It was impressive, but trying to boost your ego won't help you survive," Annabeth explained.

"It's ok," Percy waved it off.

Clovis giggled in his sleep.

**Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."**

"That's more like it," Athena smirked.

Something like 'brats' came from the sticky cereal pile.

**Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.**

"Great impression," Aphrodite said proudly. "The long, beautiful, luxurious hair streaming from behind…"

"Moving on," Thalia coughed.

**"So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"**

**"Not Mr. Brunner," the ex-Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron."**

**"Okay." Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D ... does that stand for something?"**

**Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly.**

"He probably wouldn't care anymore," Demeter said. "My cereal's probably making sure he's converting from wine."

"Mother…"

**"Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."**

"Why not?" Conner said gleefully.

"If you want to get vaporized, go ahead." Thalia said.

"Ah… never mind."  
><strong>"Oh. Right. Sorry."<strong>

**"I must say, Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."**

**"House call?"**

**"My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a lookout.**

"Let me get this straight," Verna said. "So there's shaggy, furry enchilada lovers with a muscle disease in every school?"

"HEY!"

"We'll convert you yet," Travis sniggered.

"I'm good," Verna chuckled. "If you did, the camp wouldn't be standing."

She tipped her hat downwards just in case.

**But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to ... ah, take a leave of absence."**

"Uh, what did he do?" Percy asked.

**I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class.**

"I think Chiron persuaded that man to take another job at another school," Annabeth frowned.

"Anything's better than Yancy. That man's better off someplace else," Percy said.

"I'd still like to find Nancy and—"

"Sheesh, let me read! Or one of you will get the bolt!"

**"You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked.**

"And this is an example of," Thalia rolled her eyes. "Percy's egoistical issues."  
>"You have a bigger ego than me."<p>

"IF ANYONE'S GOT A BIG EGO, IT'S YOU!"

"How about if it's Nico?"

"Hey… good idea!"

"Hey! Don't bring me into your arguments!" Nico protested.

"Too bad," Thalia leaned forward. "You count in the big three arguments."  
>Nico shook his head and slipped from the sofa arm to Verna. The twins would have whistled if Katie didn't give them the cereal killer look.<p>

**Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question."**

"Because Chiron is right most of the time," Athena said sternly.

The cereal pile started budging around stickily.

**The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile.**

"Because I was in terrible trouble from a god," Grover muttered. "I do NOT have a death wish like you, Percy."

Percy rolled his eyes. "He's right you know," Annabeth said.

**Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, **_**I **_**was his star student. He expected **_**me **_**to have the right answer.**

"Now, only children of Athena would like that smile," Hermes said.

"Are you insulting my children?"

"No ma'm, er, I mean Athena."

**"Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?'**

**"She said ..." I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."**

"And sacrificed it by marrying Gabe," Percy scowled.

**"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed.**

Ares grinned manically.

**Young man, are you bidding or not?"**

"We get killed in camp as well and I'm not bidding."

**"What?" I asked.**

**He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.**

"That doesn't count."

**"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient."**

"That film… it was… interesting." Nico said thoughtfully.

"Then I'm glad I never saw it. Your context of interesting is much different from ours," Percy muttered.

"I never got to see it," Verna said. "Should I?"

"NO." The demigods who saw it chorused.

"Why didn't you get to see it?" Apollo asked curiously.

The demigods looked slightly panicked.

"Quest," Verna said truthfully. It was the truth anyway.

"You're good at this thing," Nico said. "How did you learn?"

"From running from Washington to New York for a year."

"Huh?"

"It's… just, never mind."

**"Orientation film?" I asked.**

**"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know-" he pointed to the horn in the shoe box- "that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lad.**

"See…"

"Ladies and gentleman, the ego gets bigger every time—"

"Travis…"

"…And perhaps we should allow the little camera to film his egoistical self…"

"I will kill you both soon."

**What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods- the forces you call the Greek gods- are very much alive."**

**I stared at the others around the table.**

**I waited for somebody to yell, **_**Not!**_

"Not!" Travis yelled. He dodged Katie's smack.

**But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points.**

"Hey! Maybe I'll win this time!" Dionysus's muffled voice echoed from the cereal.

**"Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?"**

"Regular cokes are better," Grover said. "But Diet Coke is a bit more healthy."

"It's all aluminum, Grover." Annabeth said.

"They taste different!"

The golden camera shuddered.

**"Eh? Oh, all right."**

Dionysus gave a majestic muffling sound from the cereal pile and some of the honey bits popped out. Odd crunching sounds came from the pile.

**Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.**

Grover agreed as he took out a can out of his pocket.

**"Wait," I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as god."**

"Yes and if you don't believe it, you'll probably get vaporized by at least half of the Olympian council in a second," Thalia said.

"Most of them hate me in the future anyway."

"You just don't love your life!"

"More like the note said that there would be no violence."

"Apollo…" Ares growled.

**"Well, now," Chiron said. "God- capital **_**G**_**, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical."**

**"Metaphysical? But you were just talking about-"**

**"Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter."**

Ares started to tremble like an earthquake on his throne.

"He's technically correct, Ares." Athena said. "And it won't do you any good to kill your uncle."

"Uncle?" Verna asked.

"Chiron is the son of Kronos, so yeah, uncle," Nico explained.

"That's messed up."

"Not really." Percy smirked then lowered his voice. "Even though Nico's your stepbrother, he's also your uncle. So basically the relationship in this is—"

"Shut up Percy," Nico groaned.

"Hold on," Travis muttered. "In which context of relationship are you talking about?

Verna heard what Travis was hinting and blushed.

"Shut up with all the fluff and let me read!"

**"Smaller?"**

**"Yes, quite.**

"Quite," Travis almost sniggered.

**The gods we discussed in Latin class."**

**"Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them."**

"Please refrain from throwing my name around," Hera said, stretching her fingernails elegantly.

Will had a sudden image of that Aphrodite girl that was obsessed with hearts at camp. What was her name? Kate? Catherine? No… Casey. Yes, Casey. That was it.

**And there it was again. Distant thunder on a cloudless day.**

**"Young man," said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you."**

The cereal pile chipped.

**"But they're stories," I said. "They're- myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what people believed before there was science."**

"It would kind of be nicer sometimes if it really was like that," Percy said wistfully.

"But then we wouldn't exist," Annabeth said pointedly.

"I meant, it would be nicer if the hard stuff didn't come along. You know. The hard demigod stuff."

"Yeah right, punk."

**"Science!" Mr. D scoffed. "And tell me, Perseus Jackson"**

"Your son is named after my son," Zeus boomed indignantly.

"Sally named him," Poseidon explained.

"I suppose I have better luck than most," Percy said. "Sort of."

**-I flinched when he said my real name, which I never told anybody- "what will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That's what. Oh, I love mortals-**

A snort came from the cereal.

**they have absolutely no sense of perspective.**

"And I thought Dionysus used to be a mortal too," Verna frowned at the cereal.

"The only one that used to be a mortal on the Olympian council," Hera scowled.

Hades scowled. He wasn't included in that.

The cereal chipped some more.

"Be careful Verna. I'm not sure if you want to get a god on your bad side." Annabeth warned.

"Have one already," Verna said. "Another one isn't going to hurt. And I'm pretty sure Demeter is a powerful goddess." She indicated the cereal.

Nico shuddered while Demeter smiled proudly.

"Mother…" Persephone sighed.

**They think they've come **_**so-o-o **_**far. And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me."**

**I wasn't liking Mr. D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if... he wasn't.**

"Course'" Dionysus snorted. There was some more crunching.

**It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards, chewing his soda can, and keeping his mouth shut.**

"Did you kind of know then?" Jake asked.

"I had a good idea but I didn't want to believe it," Percy sighed.

**"Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that **_**immortal **_**means immortal. Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? **

"Gods do fade," Athena said sadly, remembering Helios and Selene. She had been good friends with them.

**Existing, just as you are, for all time?"**

"Technically souls can't be destroyed," Annabeth said thoughtfully. "And then there was the one that refused you-know-what. I'm still surprised that you would do that for me."

"Wise-girl, you know why."

"Too much fluff," Annabeth muttered.

**I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but the tone of Chiron's voice made me hesitate.**

"Very wise," Athena muttered in surprise. "And I'm ruling by my judgment, not his character so wipe that smirk of your face, Poseidon."

**"You mean, whether people believed in you or not," I said.**

**"Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god,**

The older counselors shared a knowing look and snickered.

"Are we missing something here?" Apollo asked.

"You'll all see," Thalia smirked.

"Am I going to hear it all through reading these?"

**how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning?**

Zeus looked offended.

**What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that someday people would call **_**you **_**a myth,**

"That happened faster than we thought," Percy said.

"Which means you're a hero," Annabeth smiled.

Poseidon sat up straighter (and proudly!) and Athena looked indecisive. Aphrodite looked ready to squeal but the chipping cereal pile made her change her mind.

**just created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?"**

"That was cheap," Percy muttered.

"He's alright on lying but tactfulness…" Annabeth frowned. "You know what, he probably said that on purpose."

Nico was reminded of Bianca. He was glad that Percy hadn't been like Chiron then but he had been too distraught to listen.

**My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him.**

Annabeth squeezed his hand.

**I said, "I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods."**

**"Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you."**

"He doesn't get incinerated," Poseidon said kindly to the cereal. "Because he's still here."

Some cursing and crunching came from the pile.

"Language," Hera warned.

**Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."**

"Yes Thalia, I have."  
>"A Percyque tonight I see…"<br>"I'm sorry!"

**"A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. "Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don't even believe.'"**

"And that's where the legend of Santa Claus came from!" Hermes said proudly. "I combined Artemis's sleigh, Dionysus's lines, his red drunken cheeks…"

A muffled sound came from the cereal.

**He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.**

"Dionysus…"

**My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up.**

**"Mr. D," he warned, "your restrictions."**

**Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.**

Hestia chuckled. The same as ever.

**"Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"**

The cereal gave a large crunch and it disappeared.

"Old habits!"

"Dionysus…"

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry!"

"Where did all the cereal go?" Demeter asked in dismay.

"I ate it."  
>"You… what? I'm so proud! Someone has finally taken a liking to—"<p>

"It was disgusting. Never again."

**More thunder.**

**Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.**

**Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits."**

Hera gritted her teeth and glared at Zeus. Zeus started fiddling with his thumbs.

"Do any of the gods have self-control?" Percy asked. "Hey, no offense. Just asking."

"No. Never. Nada." Clovis rolled over.

The demigods almost burst into laughter as the more offended gods turned crimson.

"Don't vaporize him please," Annabeth said. "He's important in camp and the note said that you couldn't do that."

"How is a bumbling idiot of Morpheus's important?" Zeus grumbled.

And this, is what caused the war against Kronos, Percy thought. And it caused a heck thought of trouble for me. With the Rachel and Annabeth thing included.

**"A wood nymph," I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.**

**"Yes," Mr. D confessed.**

"Classis," Travis snorted quietly. "Confessed to Percy."

**"Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time- well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away- the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha.' Absolutely unfair."**

"It's not that bad as long as you don't go crazy under the influence for too long," Percy said thoughtfully. "And he is a god."

"But gods can't interfere directly in things," Annabeth said. "Which was really annoying in the war."

**Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.**

Dionysus picked a bit of grit out of his mouth and tossed it at Percy.

"Erg!"

"Oh for gods sake Percy. Throw it away!"

"…where to?"

Athena rolled her eyes and clicked her fingers. The piece of grit disappeared.

"It's in Dionysus's stomach now."

**"And ..." I stammered, "your father is ..."**

_**"Di immortales, **_**Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course."**

That really is a messed up family tree," Verna said. "So he's my uncle as well as my great uncle. That really is messed up."

"And that's what being in this world is all about. Keep your voice quieter or they'll hear," Annabeth said.

**I ran through D names from Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.**

**"You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."**

"I like wine dude better," Percy muttered to Nico. "It has a nicer ring to it."

Nico snorted. "I'm lucky to be alive."

"Aren't we all?"

**Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, 'Well, duh!'?"**

"The bratty ones that act like they're six years old, yes." Hera said. And demigods, she added silently.

**"Y-yes, Mr. D."**

"And no one disagrees with me."

**"Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"**

Aphrodite wrinkled her nose. "That is so— an insult." Drew nodded vigorously.

"And I recall my sons are quite popular with your daughters."

"And I recall the time you 'accidently' made some wine—"

"MOVING ON!"

**"You're a god."**

**"Yes, child."**

**"A god. You."**

"And if you don't say anything properly you shall be included in merlot."

"I am lucky to be alive."

**He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts.**

Some of the demigods looked in awe. The gods tried not to show their impressed faces. Dionysus opened a diet coke casually.

**I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a strait-jacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.**

"Yes and old Seaweed will not be able to stop it."

**"Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly.**

**"No. No, sir."**

**The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."**

Dionysus looked up in mild interest and a tint of hope.

**"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me."**

"Bummer," Dionysus scowled.

**I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher.**

"He's the only one who can beat me," Dionysus scowled darkly.

Hermes chuckled, "I can too."

Dionysus scowled even darker.

**He got up, and Grover rose, too.**

**"I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk, **_**again, **_**about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment."**

"It was terrible," Grover shuddered. "I thought he was going to vaporize me any second."

"And I thought a goat being tortured was worse."

"…Hey! Why are you still on that!"  
>"You aren't taking care of my son's satyrs in his absence I see," Hermes interrupted. Percy shifted uneasily, remembering the fate of Pan.<p>

"Of course I am," Dionysus scoffed.

**Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."**

**Mr. D turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners."**

"Whoop! The party cabin," Conner grinned in glee.

"Illegally too," Katie said wryly. "I recall that you guys had to have cleaning duty for a month every time."

**He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.**

**"Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.**

**Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad.**

"Old?" Dionysus asked.

"Old for a living person, young for a god," Athena rolled her eyes. "Does that help?"

"…not really."

**He just hates his job. He's been ... ah, grounded,**

"A god being grounded…" Verna said dubiously.

"When I get grounded I get stuck for a long time." Nico grumbled. "And you know exactly where and what I mean."

"Huh… oh… that wasn't that terrible…"

"Well you were sleeping most of the time!"

"Hey!" Verna blushed.

"And what does that mean, huh?" Travis winked.

"If you don't want the Lord of the Underworld after you, don't say a word," Katie hissed.

**I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus."**

"Yes."

"And we get punished for it too," Jake grumbled.

"I think Tantalus was worse though," Percy said.

Jake shuddered as he poked through the tool box. "I agree."

"Tantalus?" Athena asked. "He's dead, isn't he?"

"Long story."

**"Mount Olympus," I said. "You're telling me there really is a palace there?"**

"Designed by you now," Percy grinned.

"Don't you know it," Annabeth said sternly. Then she grinned.

**"Well now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."**

**"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like ... in **_**America**_**?"**

**"Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West."**

"Why not the east?" Travis asked.

"I don't know that either," Annabeth frowned. "Because Greece was technically in the western part of the world I guess."

Zeus shuffled. Camp Jupiter…

**"The what?"**

**"Come now, Percy. What you call 'Western civilization.' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then, as you well know- or as I hope you know, since you passed my course- the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps- Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on- but the same forces, the same gods."**

That is accurate, Athena thought. The hidden truth.

"Why is in New York, not Washington D.C.? That is the capital," Will said.

"Because New York is easier for us to blend in," Hermes explained. "And things are pretty strange here after all and it's more fun."

"Fun?"

"It could have been in Los Angeles or something. That could have made my trip from Washington State easier." Verna muttered.

"What?" Nico said sharply.

"Nothing."

Something was up. He would have to interrogate her later.

The two camps too close together would create bloodshed, Athena thought sadly.

**"And then they died."**

All the demigods groaned. Annabeth face palmed when she saw the gods' aghast expressions.

"Remind me how you managed to seduce him," Thalia muttered.

"Thalia!"

"Not that way, wise-girl."

"Right. I knew that."

"Sure…"

"No wonder he's Poseidon's son," Athena muttered.

"Even I knew better," Nico looked up to the sheepish Percy.

"But you were a peppy ten year old."  
>"Shut up!"<p>

"Peppy ten year old?" Verna said in amazement. Nico was anything but that.

Nico gave Percy the death glare which didn't work as he was completely humiliated.

"Thanks a lot."  
>"No problem."<p>

**"Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. **

"Shakespeare's my son!" Apollo grinned.

"And I thought I was the god of theater," Dionysus rolled his eyes.

"The times have changed…" Artemis sighed. "Boys."

"And Apollo is the one that's almost as dramatic as Zeus," Hades rolled his eyes.

"Hey!" Both of them chorused.

"Apollo's gotten so peppy throughout the last few centuries that he might as well already been the title of the god of theater," Artemis said. "Do you mind, Dionysus?"

"On that note, that seems fine."

"Hey!"

**All you need to do is look at the architecture.**

Annabeth sighed happily. Her masterpiece of Olympus.

**People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings. And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus.**

Lightning crackled outside in the wintry skies.

"Drama queen," Hades muttered.

**Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington.**

Verna grimaced, remembering the long trip from the state of Washington all the way to New York. Again.

**I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not- and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome, either-**

The Romans wouldn't be happy to hear that, Hephaestus thought. They would have probably declared war on Camp Half-Blood right away.

**America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here."**

**It was all too much, especially the fact that **_**I **_**seemed to be included in Chiron's **_**we, **_**as if I were part of some club.**

"The correct definition would be family, Percy." Annabeth said patiently.

"Well technically not," Percy said. "Otherwise, dating would be extremely gross. That reminds me; didn't the gods have children with titans as well as many other immortals?"

"Percy… that's not helping."

"Eh, sorry."

"The correct definition would be family," Hera sniffed disdainfully.

"Wow, she said the same thing you did," Percy said.

"…That's not a good thing."

**"Who are you, Chiron? Who ... who am I?"**

"That is the cheesiest thing I've heard," Travis said. "We're going to have to teach you better lingo."

"I am so sorry."

"Terrible,"

**Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible. He was paralyzed from the waist down.**

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen his wheelchair form," Verna said. "How can he fit in a box?"

"I think the Hephaestus cabin made that a couple of years ago." Jake explained.

**"Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it?**

"And that made it even more confusing. Can you expect a demigod to understand all those cryptic hints?"

"I would."

"Well you're a daughter of Athena!"

"Quit it with your love fight so I can read," Thalia muttered.

"Shut up," Percy muttered.

**But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. **

"And plenty to steal!" Travis high fived his twin.

**And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be smores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate."**

Hestia chuckled.

**And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear, but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.**

**I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.**

**"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep.**

And that's how the prey gets caught, Artemis plucked the string on her bow.

**Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."**

"That… was more of a knowledgeable chapter," Thalia said shortly.

"Can I read next?" Verna asked. Thalia grinned.

"Of course, my favorite eh… new demigod," Thalia said. "Great niece is too confusing," She explained quietly. "And there's probably a ton anyway."

"I don't think that there's any other besides me," Verna grinned. "But it works."

**"I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom," **Verna said.

**Please review! It gives me motivation... ehehe. BTW, what are you guys getting for XMAS? Also, what do you think about Verna? If you guys have questions about her, feel free to ask. :)**


	8. I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom

**YES I IZ TERRIBLEZ. I know. But being banned from the computer is no small feat. I'm sorry and I can't do anything else than update to repent.**

**Chapter 8 - I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom**

**"I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom," **Verna read. "Um, just what were you doing?"

"What the title says," Percy chuckled. "You'll just have to see."

Clarisse gave him a death glare.

"That's annoying!" Verna huffed.

"But no one ever gives me a straight answer," Percy said.

"That's because you never understand," Annabeth muttered.

"Hurry up and read mortal girl," Hera sighed elegantly. "We don't have all day."

"Why that arrogant—" Annabeth growled. Percy shook his head quickly.

"You do not need to be an enemy of her in this time. It's not going to help."

"It's okay," Verna tried to say reassuringly. She didn't like Hera's attitude much, but Annabeth being in trouble wasn't going to do anything. Especially a goddess that was famous for grudges and jealousy.

**Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse,**

"I thought I was still hallucinating," Percy explained.

"I saw a new kid staggering around Chiron. Was that you Percy?" Katie asked.

"Eh… probably."

**we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times, and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.**

Everyone burst out into laughter, especially Hermes and Apollo.

"Chiron's not going to be happy when he reads this," Annabeth chuckled.

"Vulgar," Hera sniffed disdainfully.

**We passed the volleyball pit.**

Verna winced. The first she passed by there, the Hephaestus cabin's automatons were testing out flaming cannons.

**Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's **_**him**_**."**

"Way to boost his ego," Annabeth snorted.

"I was telling the truth!"

**Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters.**

"That freaked me out," Percy said sheepishly. "I'm surprised that you didn't with Grover."

"I was more disturbed by the bleating."

"Are you still going to keep that up?"

"Yes."

**I wasn't normally shy,**

"You were sort of shy when you first got into camp," Nico said.

"You weren't even there!" Percy said.

"I was talking to Verna."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"But she was technically saying it."

"…What…oh!"

"A little late."

"If you two don't shut up in two seconds, I will fry both of you and serve fried fish for lunch!"

"HEY!"

"But I'm not a fried fish!"

"And I was not shy when I got into camp!"

"I said sort of."

"That… was not shyness!" Verna said indignantly.

"ENOUGH AND LET HER READ!" Thalia shouted. "Or I will serve some fried bones as a side course." She added in an undertone.

"That doesn't even exist…"

**but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.**

"You did one in the chapter before last…" Annabeth said.

"It was a comparison…"

**I looked back at the farmhouse.**

"When will you stop calling my design a farmhouse?" Dionysus asked, look queasy.

"Um… before that, why do you look sick?"

"That blasted cereal killer," Dionysus cursed.

….

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"DIONYSUS! YOU INSULT MY CEREAL?"

"Cereal~ Serial~" Clovis shuffled.

"First she killed her own daughter off with cereal, then her brother/son in law," Hermes sang. "Then Dionysus actually makes a comeback."

"Daughter has KO'ed,

Brother defeated,

Nephew triumphant!"

Apollo sang.

"Worst one so far," Artemis said.

"You just don't appreciate art," Apollo huffed.

"That's new," Nico said. "I'd never thought of that."

**It was a lot bigger than I'd realized—four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort.**

"My design."

**I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane**

"Father insisted on putting his symbol on the top," Dionysus sighed. "Ruining the affect."

**on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.**

"Rachel's predecessor," Percy laughed.

"She'll kill you if she hears that," Annabeth said.

**"What's up there?" I asked Chiron.**

**He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."**

**"Somebody lives there?"**

**"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."**

"It must have been boring for her to be stuck in that body," Percy muttered. "Not to mention being cursed."

Hades shuffled slightly as Hermes sighed.

**I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain.**

**"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."**

**We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.**

"Took me a while to learn," Grover said.

**Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."**

"Not when the twin sons Hermes 'ACCIDENTLY' KILL ALL THE STRAWBERRIES!" Katie yelled. The twins high -fived each other.

"What have you done to your children, Hermes?" Hera muttered.

"I've taught them well."

**He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, **

"Yet, I have never seen a sober Dionysus," Artemis said wryly. Zeus's look darkened.

"I wonder why…"

"DIONSYSUS!"

"I'm drinking COKE!"

**so they grew strawberries instead.**

"Technically, strawberries can be made into wine," Annabeth snorted. "But Dionysus only invented the types with grapes."

"Temptation, old D," Hermes snorted.

"…Shut your trap."

**I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire.**

Ares grinned. War action. Sort of.

**I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music.**

"I'd probably have made the strawberries explode at that point," Grover said ruefully.

"Low self-esteem," Annabeth sighed.

"Can we send him to the Ares cabin for some training, Clarisse?" Conner asked.

"With much pleasure."

"HEY! I do NOT want to be skewered and barbequed."

"That's my girl!" Ares said proudly.

**I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.**

"Yes."

**"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean ... he was a good protector. Really."**

"I can't believe you were sticking for me after that… fiasco."

"Well… I think I was thinking about something else at the time."

"?"

**Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle. "Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable.**

"Hearing it from other people isn't that great though," Grover sighed.

"Chiron is very… blunt," Annabeth suggested. "I think it's his way of making certain heroes to not go into the ego zone."

"But I'm a satyr!"

"Well… it's his habit and technically you are a hero."

**To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him**

Thalia snorted. Sexist.

**safely to Half-Blood Hill."**

**"But he did that!"**

**"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York. Then there's the unfortunate ... ah ... fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."**

"Nope. Nada. Nothing."

"…Your self esteem's is lower than ever I see, goat boy." Thalia said.

"Wasn't that… a little harsh?" Verna asked.

"All I can say is I'm glad I'm not a shrub, handmade by Mr. D."

**I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble.**

"Does the sea ever feel guilty, Poseidon?" Hera asked. "That seems to happen a lot with your son."

"Er… sometimes… I accidently wrecked a couple of ships…"

**"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"**

"That was my second chance…"

**Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that **_**was **_**Grover's second chance, Percy.**

"I'm sorry! I won't repeat again!"

**The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age..."**

**"How old is he?"**

**"Oh, twenty-eight."**

"What? And you're in 6th grade?" Verna exclaimed.

"Satyrs age half as fast as humans."

"So… you were… 14 years old?"

"Yep."

**"What! And he's in sixth grade?"**

"Now it's spreading to VERNA! The horror!" Conner gasped.

"I'm sorry!"

Verna? Persephone thought.

No it can't be.

But it's not a common name…

**"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."**

"That sounds terrible… repeating more than you should…" Annabeth said.

"Well, I'll live longer than most, so yeah. Might as well."

"I would have hated that," Nico snorted.

"Nico, do you even go to school?"

"Well I have 'tutors' if you get my drift. Chiron is all of ours, isn't it?"

"Oh… yeah, I suppose."

**"That's horrible."**

"It's now spreading to Annabeth…" Travis smirked

"OW! Katie!"

"Stop interrupting!"

"S&M, bro…"

"OW!"

**"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, **

"Hahaha…"

**and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career..."**

"Puppet Theater…" Percy mused.

"Don't remind me."

**"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"**

"It was not," Thalia said. "It just was really boring after so many years."

"And you're going to tell me what happened, right?" Verna sighed.  
>"Yep."<p>

**Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"**

"We're going to have to teach Chiron how to change the subject," Travis snorted.

"So not subtle," Conner added.

"Whoa, Stoll. When did you start using big words?"

"Thanks… eh… HEY!"

**But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word **_**death. **_**The beginnings of an idea—a tiny, hopeful fire—started forming in my mind.**

"You're not thinking about… you know what, were you?" Annabeth said incredulously.

"It's not strange, but I don't think it'll work, Percy." Poseidon said. "Not in the way you're thinking. No one' s ever done it."

"Mom was alive though," Percy said. "Did anyone else think about it?"

Percy gave Nico a glance, not including you.

"I did," Verna confessed sheepishly. "With… you know."

"You did?"

"Well, Lord Poseidon (he grinned while Hades shook his head) did say it wouldn't be strange."

"Wish someone else thought the same and didn't declare war on me," Percy added to Nico.

"Glad to be of service, Percy."

**"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real ..."**

**"Yes, child?"**

**"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"**

"Yes," Hades had a maniac expression. "Very much so."

"I think brother's gone delusional from the time in father's stomach," Poseidon muttered.

"Now, now, my lord," Persephone soothed.

Verna almost keeled over.

"A little too cheesy for my taste," Drew sniffed.

"Nico."

"Um, yeah?"

"Are they always like this in the Underworld?"

"Somewhat… but when Demeter comes… you saw what happened then."

"Are you saying my gra— er, relative really is a cereal killer?"

"Unfortunately."

**Chiron's expression darkened.**

**"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words care fully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now ... until we know more ... I would urge you to put that out of your mind."**

"Did you have the same idea I had?" Percy asked Verna curiously. "It's okay if you don't want to answer." (Annabeth had been about to say contradict him.)

"Well, I was on the run so I didn't have a lot of time to think about it," Verna murmured to him. "I guess I sort of accepted that I was going to see them in the end; if I get into Elysium anyway."

"Huh…"

**"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"**

"Just means Percy being reckless and stupid…" Annabeth said.

"Hey…"

"Seaweed brain."

"Wise girl."

"Enough with the flirting," Clarisse rolled her eyes.  
>"Like you don't do it with—"<p>

"PUNK!"

"As much as Athena getting a coronary is amusing, can you read, Verna?" Hermes asked, grinning.

"Oh, right." Percy blushed. "Moving on."

Athena looked slightly faint while Poseidon tried not to laugh.

Athena recovered quickly.

"We'll read more and I'll decide on whether you're worthy of a demigod. Since you're a son of that sea spawn (hey!) I don't see much hope."

Hestia chuckled. She could see several opportunities of where this could go.

**"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."**

"That was subtle."

**As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick,**

"Can't beat mine," Thalia snorted.

"You mean the thickness of hair under there?" Conner suggested innocently.

Thalia was a confused for a second, then unsheathed her hunting knife.

"I'M SORRY!"

**you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.**

Ares was suddenly reminded of the civil war between the two groups of demigods. He grinned.

"Ares."

"Eh— what?"

**Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."**

**"Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"**

"Burritos," Grover muttered to Percy.

**"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"**

"How did he expect you to have those?" Verna asked.

"I have no idea how Chiron's mind works."

"Learn or die," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

Nico was suddenly reminded of the Roman side of the gods. The Greeks were so alike, yet so different from them.

**"My own—?"**

**"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."**

**I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range,**

Apollo grinned, "We're the best." The camera nodded.

"The hunters are," Artemis rolled her eyes.

"You guys have been arguing about this for as long as you've arguing who's older," Hera said. "Enough."

Annabeth coughed.

**the canoeing lake,**

"I like," Percy grinned.

**the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much),**

"Bad memories?" Katie asked.

"Chiron doesn't like being called pony or horse," Poseidon said.

"Tyson…" Percy snorted.

**the javelin range,**

Ares fiddled with his chrome armrest,

**the sing-along amphitheater,**

"Apollo, we do not need to get any more arguable now."

"Aww… no singing? Walking on sunshine is one of my favorites!"

"Obviously. Your twin daughters wrote that song for you."

**and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.**

**"Sword and spear fights?" I asked.**

**"Cabin challenges and all that,"**

"Most of which the Ares' cabin…" Conner grinned.

"Gets beaten." Travis grinned.

"Only by the Athena cabin," Annabeth rolled her eyes. "The Hermes cabin gets pulverized by Clarisse entirely. And unless you want to get half killed now, it's best if you don't say anything else"

**he explained. "Not lethal. Usually.**

"That's reassuring," Verna muttered. "I'm not sure I'll want to do that now."

"But we're already having one… sort of," Percy said.

"Oh… right."

**Oh, yes,**

Hermes snorted.

**and there's the mess hall."**

"Now I'm hungry," Percy muttered.

"We can have lunch soon," Hestia said.

"After a few chapters," Zeus boomed. "I want to hear some more."

Thalia face palmed while the demigods tried not to snigger.

"Did Mother Rhea tell you any bedtime stories, Zeus?" Poseidon muttered. "Because that seems to be the case."

Hades smirked.

**Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea.**

Percy grinned, remembering the last date he had with Annabeth on the beach.

**There were a dozen stone picnic tables.**

"Twenty now," Annabeth said proudly. "With my designs of course. Though, what do we do with your case, Verna?"

"I could just live in the woods."

Travis and Conner started laughing.

"I'm being serious."

They stopped and sat up pompously.

"Um… I'm not sure that's safe, even for you. We should talk with Chiron when we go back to camp."

**No roof. No walls.**

**"What do you do when it rains?" I asked.**

**Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird.**

"How was I supposed to know that it rarely rains," Percy grumbled.

**"We still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.**

**Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.**

"I didn't mean it that way! It's just that they weren't like real collection of cabins! Just! Never mind. Please read Verna."

**Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike.**

"That's what I meant."

**Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory.**

Hephaestus and Jake sat up straighter.

**Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass.**

Demeter beamed at her daughter.

"At least there's no wheat. I don't think I can survive another bout of it," Hades muttered.

**Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at.**

"I wonder why…" Artemis said drily.

**They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).**

"Yet the Apollo cabin always beats you."

"You're picking on me… again."

**In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.**

Hestia smiled, "It's rare that people see me."

"I didn't talk to you though…" Percy said sheepishly. "Sorry."

"It's alright. After hearing about it, it's understandable."

"Understandable," Travis snorted.

**The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve.**

"And the most dramatic one of all, brother."

"INSULTS IN MY OWN HOUSE—"

"Yes, brother. Please read."

**Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them.**

"Did you like living in that cabin, Thalia?" Percy asked. "I don't think it's my style…"

"It wasn't that bad, but I do prefer the Artemis cabin."

**Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers.**

"That doesn't sound that bad…" Verna thought aloud. "What's wrong?"

Annabeth had an odd look on her face.

"My problem isn't the cabin, it's the goddess."

**The walls were carved with images of peacocks.**

"Never mind."

**"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.**

**"Correct," Chiron said.**

**"Their cabins look empty."**

"The first is supposed to be anyway," Hera snapped.

"Yes dear."

"What happened to the pact anyway? Swearing on the River Styx (boom) doesn't have any use anymore…"

"Yes dear."

"Yes dear," Annabeth muttered.

**"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one**

The gods stared at Thalia for a moment.

"Not anymore," Thalia muttered.

**or two."**

"If someone did, that would be disastrous," Hephaestus grunted. "I'd feel sorry for that child."

**Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot.**

"Mascot?" Annabeth exclaimed. "Seriously, Percy? It's been a couple of chapters and you've offended all the gods!"

"It's my duty to."  
>"Percy!"<p>

**Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians.**

"It's changed a lot, huh." Verna frowned.

**But why would some be empty?**

"Because those gods aren't SUPPOSED to have DEMIGOD KIDS!"

"Calm down. The note said no fighting."

"!"

**I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.**

Intuition, Percy thought.

**It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one,**

"Pompous eagle," Hades snorted.

**but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"**

"Would you have vaporized any demigod that trespassed there, Father?" Percy asked.

"I don't think so. I don't supervise it 24/7. If it was anyone, it would be Apollo looking at the Aphrodite cabin."

"What… HEY!"

"It's accurate, brother."

"That's mean, sis!"

"Don't call me sis!"

**Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there.**

"Not for a century anyway," Hades muttered.

**The place felt so sad and lonely,**

"Are you sad and lonely, punk?"

"Shut up. I was describing the cabin."

"Percy's really a pessimist. That's what it means."

"Hey!"

**I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."**

"Oh come on, your father was calling towards you," Apollo said. "Hold on, that sounds like Star Wars… Luke, I am your father."

"He's my son," Hermes said.

"Oh… right."

**Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.**

"The family sure has been busy," Hera glared.

**Number five was bright red—a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists.**

"It's improved now," Clarisse smirked. "We upgraded the defenses and the interior mines."

"Thank the gods that you do know where every mine is," Percy muttered to Annabeth.

**The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me.**

"Your mom's owl does that too. It's so annoying."

**Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids,**

"Figures," Hephaestus grunted.

**both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen.**

"Punk."

**She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer.**

"Just what have you been teaching your children?" Hera sniffed.

**She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit,**

"I am not a kleptomaniac," Clarisse rolled her eyes.

**though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking,**

"Do you think that there's any child of Ares that isn't tough looking?"

**and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.**

"Still comparing me to her?"

**I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves.**

"And his rear."

**"We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.**

**"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid.**

"How can Chiron not like the Party Ponies?" Apollo scoffed.

"Chiron prefers Italian opera," Dionysus said. "It spoils their appetite."

**You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events.**

"You mean they go to the Olympics?" Percy asked.

"Gods Percy!" Annabeth said exasperatedly. "He means parties not sporting events literally."

**But you won't see any here."**

"Not true," Dionysus sipped his coke leisurely. "The party ponies enjoy meeting me as much as possible. We generally have pretty wild meetings."

**"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really ..."**

**He smiled down at me. **_**"The **_**Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules**

Hera scowled even more.

**and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."**

**"But, shouldn't you be dead?"**

"That was tactful."

**Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about **_**should **_**be. The truth is, I **_**can't **_**be dead.**

"Immortal means immortal Percy."

"I was twelve!"

**You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish ... and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."**

"Yep," Zeus said darkly. "The cycle goes around and around."

Only Athena understood what he meant. Titans to Typhon to Giants… and then all over again.

**I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list.**

"First sign of Percy going mad. He wants to teach."

"OW!"

**"Doesn't it ever get boring?"**

**"No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."**

Annabeth nodded. If she was Chiron, she probably wouldn't have been able to handle what he had to.

**"Why depressing?"**

**Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.**

**"Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."**

"We've got to teach him how to talk," Conner said sadly.

**The blond girl I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven.**

**When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.**

"I wasn't," Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Don't just assume things if you don't know if it's true or not."

"Then what were you thinking?"

The prophecy. "Just… never mind."

**I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek.**

"Worst pun ever."

**There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.**

Athena almost groaned. Maybe this sea spawn wasn't as reliable after all.

**"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon.**

"Yep," Apollo grinned at the scowling Artemis.

**Would you take Percy from here?"**

**"Yes, sir."**

**"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."**

**Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on **_**old. **_**The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling.**

"I guess I need to upgrade it again," Hermes frowned.

**Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it... ?**

"Martha and George," A muffled voice came from Hermes messenger bag.

"A caduceus you dolt. And I do all the real work."  
>"Oh yeah? I'm sure Hermes likes me the best. You're just jealous!"<p>

"Do you want me to put you guys on vibrate?"

The snakes became silent.

**A caduceus.**

Maybe the sea spawn isn't that hopeless.

**Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.**

"Claim your kids," Hermes grumbled. "It's not fair that they all have to be cramped together.

Some of the gods shuffled a bit.

**Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.**

**"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."**

**He galloped away toward the archery range.**

**I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.**

"At least you know the routine," Annabeth frowned. "Otherwise you might have gotten in more trouble."

**"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."**

**So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself.**

Percy groaned while all the demigods sniggered.

"I see where he gets the genes from," Zeus looked at Poseidon.

**There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything.**

**Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."**

**"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.**

**I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."**

**Everybody groaned.**

Annabeth nodded slowly. This was one of the largest reasons for the second Titan War.

**A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward.**

Luke… Annabeth thought sadly.

**"Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."**

**The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile.**

The twins stiffened and were reminded of the betrayal of their half brother.

**He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.**

Thalia looked down and shuffled.

**"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing.**

"That was back then," Annabeth rolled her eyes at all the stares she was getting.

**She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor for now."**

**"For now?" I asked.**

**"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."**

So the camp was that different in the past, Verna paused.

**I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.**

"I was lucky I had nothing to lose," Nico chuckled. "Only my sister's purse when Travis and Conner gambled over."

"You gambled over Bianca's purse!" Verna exclaimed. "I'd have thought she would have scolded you for that."

"Oh… she didn't really need it anymore."

"It's going to be something up coming in the books right?"

"Yes. So if you read faster, you'll be able to find out."

Verna huffed but kept reading.

**I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious,**

The demigods that betrayed camp… Percy thought. But it wasn't that they didn't have a reason.

**some grinning stupidly,**

The newer campers that still believed, Annabeth thought.

**some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.**

"And those are my kids," Hermes said proudly.

**"How long will I be here?" I asked.**

**"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."**

**"How long will that take?"**

**The campers all laughed.**

Zeus chuckled as well.

"That is not funny," Percy said quietly. "If a child was neglected without knowing with their parent was, do you think that they would respect gods in the first place?"

"The spawn is right (hey!). Do you think that anyone would respect us if they don't know who they are?" Athena said.

Zeus started to gape.

"Moving on," Verna said hurriedly.

**"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."**

**"I've already seen it."**

**"Come on."**

"I was trying to save you from humiliation, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"I didn't care that much."

**She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside.**

"Always dragging Percy around even when I'm a tree, eh?" Thalia muttered.

Annabeth tried her best not to blush.

Aphrodite could tell that the stories would be interesting for her especially.

**I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.**

It had really changed over the years, Katie thought. Of all of the years she had been there, it had really changed for good. Except for the two nuclear bombs of course, Katie thought wryly.

**When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."**

"By the way when did you guys get on pet name terms?" Aphrodite asked eagerly.

"Pet names?" Athena almost choked.

"I actually have no idea," Percy said.

**"What?"**

**She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."**

All the demigods choked over laughing.

"Which one is that?" Travis asked with glee. "But we can kill birds with one stone this time."

Verna frowned at that. She didn't like animals or anything getting hurt. Monsters however were an exception as they reformed anyway.

"Why?" Annabeth asked warily.

"Because we can get a kick out of this with you and Verna. So you think Percy's the one, Verna?"

"What? There's about a five year difference here!"

"Relax, I'm joking. Annabeth seems to be in more of a…"

"Do you understand your position that you're about to be killed by one goddess, three dangerous girls who are trained in weaponry and the girl catching dude?" Conner nudged Travis.

"What?"

Verna was glaring at him and Annabeth was even worse. Katie flexed her fingers and mouthed don't think about it. Athena was glaring at Travis and Nico was glaring at nothing in particular.

"Please move on, Verna. Please do."

"Actually, you can move on," Annabeth said.

"Thank you!"

"For compensation. Drew, I think you really have a good chance to put a full makeover over Travis Stoll."

"WHAT?"

**"What's your problem?"**

"You didn't even get 'the one' thing, Percy. Hopeless." Nico shook his head. "Even I got the wind of it back then and I never met Annabeth before!"

"So it's Pick on Percy day now."

"Yes."

**I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy—"**

"You've haven't killed the Minotaur before," Conner tried to put a light joke in.

Verna raised an eyebrow, "Who says I haven't?"

Conner blinked for five seconds then started gaping. "You've got to be joking."

"I'm not kidding Conner," She said seriously. She adjusted the book cover then turned back to the book.

The demigods stared at her. Clarisse looked at the young girl, smaller than her by many sizes with renewed respect.

"Looks like your father recycles his monsters frequently," Percy muttered to Nico who shook his head in disbelief.

**"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"**

"I like your daughter, Athena. Good sense for bloodshed," Ares nodded.

Annabeth winced. That had sounded pretty bad.

**"To get killed?"**

"That is a valid point," Hestia said quietly. "Demigods have to suffer because they were born."

Hera wanted to interrupt but stopped herself. Hestia could be scary when she wanted to.

**"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"**

"Not anymore," Annabeth said quietly.

**I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was **_**the **_**Minotaur, the same one in the stories ..."**

**"Yes."**

**"Then there's only one."**

**"Yes."**

"Too much yeses."

"OW! Katie, jeez!"

**"And he died, like, a gajillion years**

"Is that even a real word Percy?" Verna asked.

Apollo and Ares nodded.

"No," Athena said.

The two gods stiffened. The golden camera tilted so it's screen was on Ares' stupefied face.

**ago, right? Theseus**

Dionysus scowled.

**killed him in the labyrinth. So ..."**

**"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."**

**"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."**

"I guess that really didn't make any sense," Annabeth said sheepishly. "Sorry."

"But he still doesn't understand anything," Nico said. "He does things like on the spur of the moment."

"The person you are talking about is right here."

**"They don't have souls,**

Verna felt better at the reminder that she would definitely see her father again if she became a hero.

**like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky.**

"When is Percy ever lucky?" Thalia muttered. "Almost killing me on the mountain top."

**But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them arch types. Eventually, they re-form."**

"And makes another generation of demigods worry."

**I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally,**

"Accidently," Conner chuckled. "My favorite excuse."

"Which never works," Katie rolled her eyes.

**with a sword—"**

**"The Fur**

Alecto is sort of furry, Nico thought.

Verna bit her lip but kept on reading.

**... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."**

"Of course." Hades snorted. "Monsters in my domain barely need any time to reform."

"Which is why she still hates you," Nico said. "You barely give them time to reform."

"It's my life," Percy shrugged.

**"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"**

**"You talk in your sleep."**

**"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"**

"You better believe it."  
>"Of course he does my lord."<p>

Verna blanched.

**Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her.**

Percy glared at Nico who shuffled sheepishly. "Sorry."

**"You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."**

**"Look, is there anything we **_**can **_**say without it thundering?"**

"NO!" Zeus boomed.

**I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn't care.**

"Most of others had cried or gone into denial," Annabeth said. "You were stronger."

**"Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."**

**I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale.**

"How do you expect me to get it?"

"Glad you acknowledge it Seaweed Brain."

Aphrodite grinned. A piece of evidence.

**"You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or ... your parent."**

**She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.**

"Which is what happens often," Annabeth muttered.

**"My mom is Sally Jackson," I said.**

**"She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."**

**"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."**

**"He's dead. I never knew him."**

"Here I thought you believed your mom that I was alive," Poseidon said.

**Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids.**

"Yeah and they never ended exactly great."

**"Your father's not dead, Percy."**

**"How can you say that? You know him?"**

"I didn't know him directly then."

**"No, of course not."**

**"Then how can you say—"**

**"Because I know **_**you.**_ **You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."**

"Then there are the exceptions," Percy said, thinking about Rachel.

"Of course," Hermes said quietly.

**"You don't know anything about me."**

**"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."**

"Were you, Annabeth?" Percy asked.

"I was mostly home-schooled. I preferred that over regular teachers."

**"How—"**

**"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."**

"Are all demigods like that?" Verna asked. "Are there exceptions?"

"Yes," Athena said. "There are some demigods that have powers that allow them to not be dyslexic or they could be descendants of demigods. There are also just some demigods that don't have one of them. Most demigods have ADHD at least though."

"Descendants of demigods!" Percy said in amazement. "I didn't know that there were any."

"They're rare, but they do exist."

**I tried to swallow my embarrassment.**

"Why would you be embarrassed?" Annabeth asked. "It's a pain to read human languages but it's not a reason to be."

"I have no idea what I was thinking."

**"What does that have to do with anything?"**

**"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek.**

"It would be much nicer if we can read both," Percy said. "It's not like we use Greek in real life often."

**And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battle field reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated.**

"You just called Paul a monster."

"Most of them are monsters! I didn't say that all of them were!"

**Most of them are monsters.**

"Don't repeat yourself!"

"Well I have to because it's you!"

"Now stop the flirting or I won't be able to read how this Kelp Brain messes up in my absence," Thalia rolled her eyes.

**They don't want you seeing them for what they are."**

"That sounds like a song," Will muttered.

**"You sound like ... you went through the same thing?"**

**"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."**

**"Ambrosia and nectar."**

"No," Nico said. "It's spaghetti and meatballs as godly food of course. Not ambrosia and nectar."

"There's hope for you yet Nico," Travis beamed.

"Um… okay…"

**"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid.**

"What would happen if we gave some to Rachel?" Percy asked queasily.

"I don't think we should test that out," Annabeth shuddered. "She's still a mortal."

**It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead.**

"A half-blood died from an overdose a couple of years ago," Jake said sadly. "It was terrible."

**Face it. You're a half-blood."**

**A half-blood.**

**I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.**

**Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"**

"I do not have a husky voice," Clarisse grumbled.

**I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin**

Ares glared at Percy.

**was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her,**

"Not so much anymore," Percy grinned. "Since two years ago, interesting things happened."

"Go to Hades, punk."

"Been there, done it."

"Damn."

**all wearing camo jackets.**

**"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"**

**"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."**

"Rarely works," Clarisse muttered. "When there's lucky moments, maybe once in a while."

_**''Erre es korakas!"**_ **Annabeth said,**

Ares forgot that Athena's daughter was cursing his and said, "Nice."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

**which I somehow under stood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded. **

"Yes," Apollo shuddered as Artemis pulled her bow with a twang.

**"You don't stand a chance."**

**"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"**

"Runt to punk to Percy? What has this world come to?" Nico muttered.

"To an end of course," Verna grinned.

"You're started to get the hang of it," Thalia grinned. "Always use any means to insult Kelp Head over there."

"HEY!"

**"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."**

**I blinked. "Like ... the war god?"**

"It's the god with peace and love of course," Nico said.

"That would really be Iris," Hermes said. "Even though she's a goddess she really prefers being neutral."

**Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"**

**"No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."**

"It improves!" Percy protested. "In five years anyway…"

**Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."**

I am so glad Clarisse didn't give that to me… yet, Verna thought.

**"Percy."**

**"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."**

**"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.**

**"Stay out of it, wise girl."**

"Right in the first book!" Aphrodite shrieked. Athena looked murderous.

**Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it,**

"I tried to stop it," Annabeth shrugged. "But you sure were persistent."

"Yep, that's me."

**and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.**

"See?"

"Nobody said otherwise."

"Oh, I knew that."

**I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.**

"With my supreme lord of the bathroom skillz."

**I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before,**

"Is that a good thing?" Conner asked. "I stay out of that and just pull pranks."

"Probably earlier training in life."

Poseidon frowned.

"I wouldn't want that," Grover shuddered.

"Of course not, G-man."

**but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron. She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. **

"And that was not the only time that happened," Percy muttered.

**There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking—as much as I **_**could **_**think with Clarisse ripping my hair out—that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.**

"You were not seriously thinking that," Clarisse glared.

"You'd better believe it."

Clarisse scowled.

"Why don't you upgrade it Dionysus?" Apollo asked.

"It's fun to watch the brats… er, children squirm."

**Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.**

"There's water there anyway…" Drew rolled her eyes.

**"Like he's 'Big Three' material,"**

"He is," Percy said.

"Shut up."

**Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."**

**Her friends snickered.**

"Snicker bars," Clovis grinned in his sleep.

**Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.**

"You stayed behind and watched?" Katie said. "Honestly…"

"Well I had been thinking that I had to take care of him after Clarisse did afterwards," Annabeth glared at the sofa.

"But I survived…"

**Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. **

Ares grinned maniacally.

**It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets.**

Aphrodite and Drew gave a dramatic shudder.

**I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.**

"As rebellious as the sea," Hestia chuckled.

Poseidon smiled too. Maybe he had 'helped' a little at that time.

**Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.**

Clarisse scowled darker.

**I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt.**

Clarisse's face turned puce.

**The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.**

**She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her.**

"They just don't learn," Thalia said.

"They do…" Clarisse said half-heartedly. "Eventually."

**But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls**

"You're calling my sister camouflage girls," Clarisse said in disbelief.

"Why not?"

"Just… never mind."

**right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.**

"Just like the father," Hephaestus muttered. "Useless murdering garbage."

**As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.**

**The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared.**

"Sorry about that," Percy frowned. "But it's not like I could control it well."

"At least it was the shower water," Annabeth said. "And I was really just watching."

**She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door.**

"Feeling the love there, Annabeth?" Thalia asked.

"Shut up."

**She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.**

**I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.**

**I stood up, my legs shaky.**

**Annabeth said, "How did you ..."**

**"I don't know."**

**We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. **

Like she did now, but on a milder scale.

**"You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."**

"If he's gone to the Underworld with a grand total of three times, is that going to work?" Nico muttered.

**I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."**

Clarisse scowled. She never could win against that punk… unless she ambushed him that is.

**Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.**

**Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.**

"I was planning."

"To pulverize me."

"Exactly."

**"What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"**

**"I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."**

"And getting me killed," Percy muttered.

"Ok, that's done," Verna said.

"The story's done!"  
>"No! The chapter."<p>

"I'll read next," Nico said. Verna passed the book.

Conner and Travis were about to say something, but a warning shot from Katie stopped them.

"**My Dinner Goes up in Smoke,"** Nico read.

**I want to know if Verna seems like a character that makes sense. If anyone has questions, ask me, the Cherry. 8 more days till my birthday.**


	9. My Dinner Goes up in Smoke

The thing is, when you've got a maniac mother banning you to use the computer and not saying when I can, it's a little difficult to update. Luckily I have some extra stuff for you guys.

.com/

I made deviantart of characters from Percy Jackson. And also, maybe this chapter may be up to your expectations. Thank you all.

Chapter 9 - My Dinner Goes up in Smoke

"**My Dinner Goes up in Smoke,"** Nico read.

"I'm still hungry," Apollo groaned.

"We can eat after two more chapters," Athena said.

"Why not now?"

"Because she likes order, Apollo," Artemis rolled her eyes.

"What?"

**Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately.**

"Dratted nymphs," Clarisse scowled. She was sure to be quiet as the Lady of the Nymphs was in the same room.

Verna couldn't help chuckling a bit at this. They were just... playful.

**Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still pretty much dripping wet.**

"Which was your fault."

"Did you want me to get half-killed by the Ares cabin!"

"Yes," Clarisse said.

"No!" Annabeth exclaimed. "That's not what I meant!"

**She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man),**

"GO—AT… GOAT MAN! THAT IS PAN!" Grover yelled.

"No need to bust my ear drums Grover!"

"It's all good Grover," Hermes chuckled. "My son would that amusing. Though where he is these days… I have no idea."  
>The group of demigods that had been with Pan when he died sobered. Nico turned back to the book. Grover settled down quietly.<p>

**and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.**

"Ouch," Verna said.

"Really? That wall is fun," Percy said.

"That's because you're the son of the sea god, Seaweed Brain. It would be really strange if you got scorched."

**Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.**

**"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."**

**"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."**

"Yeah, be sorry Nico," Travis snorted. "OW! This is getting old!"

"That's what you get as Nico can't really throw anything at you."

"He could throw his sword."

"Do you really want that thing hitting you? Or any swords in general?"

"Er… how about the book?"

Annabeth gave him a death glare.

"…Fine."

**"Whatever."**

**"It wasn't my fault."**

Everyone stared at Percy.

"One of your biggest fails," Thalia said.

"What can I say? I am quite accomplished!"

"In fails."

**She looked at me skeptically, and I realized it **_**was **_**my fault.**

"A little late Percy," Nico said.

**I'd made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures.**

"Yeah!" Travis grinned. "I can imagine that it happened just like… that. Right, Conner?"

"Huh… oh yes," Conner cackled.

All the other demigods looked ill, especially Clovis. Nico turned even paler than he could possibly get and Verna looked confused.

"Move on Nico. Please." Katie said.

**I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing.**

"You're one with the plumbing," Thalia grinned. "Is that your ambition now?"

"No…"

"Have any of your sons become plumbers, Poseidon?" Demeter asked.

"Not that I recall…" Poseidon said thoughtfully. "I think one of yours is though, Hephaestus."

"Yeah. He was a genius at it too. John L. Sullivan. He became a boxing champion."

**"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.**

Hades shuffled.

**"Who?"**

**"Not who. What.**

"I thought you guys said that there was an Oracle of Delphi," Verna frowned.

"Things got pretty must messed up," Nico explained.

"Huh. I guess I should be lucky that I came to camp later."

"You have no idea," Annabeth said darkly.

**The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."**

**I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once.**

All the experienced demigods nodded and sighed.

"We could do more if a _certain_ god didn't decree it," Poseidon gave Zeus a look.

"Those are the ancient laws," Zeus boomed.

"That you made," Hades mumbled.

**I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat**

Aphrodite mused. Naiads I see, that's interesting…

**when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below.**

"Pft," Annabeth scoffed.

"Annie's being jealous," The twins sang. Annabeth unsheathed her dagger then said,

"The naiads dragged half of the Ares guys in the lake. I would be worried."

Clarisse scowled. Stupid Sherman and Mark.

"They're not that bad," Percy said.

"Just mischievous," Verna ended.

"Experience?"

"Well, I explored around camp…"

**They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out.**

Grover smiled dreamily.

"Juniper will murder you, then the naiads and then bring you back to life if she sees you," Percy said.

Grover turned red with embarrassment.

**They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.**

"They're sort of related to me, I guess?"

"Everyone here is related." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.**

**"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."**

"And you're saying that you're not jealous…" Thalia muttered.

"I'm really wasn't… and I just met him."

**"Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."**

New York, Sweet, New York.

**Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You **_**are **_**home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."**

**"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"**

"You just called all of us, including yourself, mentally disturbed," Will said incredulously.

"Yes… and? Doesn't ADHD and dyslexia count?"

…

"Wow… Percy said something that was half-smart… for once," Thalia whistled.

"Does that mean that Percy… is unintelligent?" Artemis asked. As expected of boys. Just look at Apollo.

"He's not stupid, but he can do stupid things," Annabeth said. "So he's a bit like Father, Mother."

Athena sighed. I guess I can understand. But this sea spawn had better stay away from Annabeth.

**"I mean **_**not human. **_**Not totally human,**

"Half-bean," Conner said.

**anyway. Half-human."**

"That's not completely true," Nico interrupted himself.

"What?" Annabeth said.

"Descendants of demigods do exist," Nico explained.

Emily, Ares thought, almost fondly.

"And there have been some cases where er… demigods had children with gods."

Close enough, Frank.

"Really!" Percy said in amazement. "I never thought that they existed. After all we don't usually live that long."

"They do exist; it's just rare these days."

"So Annabeth was wrong for once? OW!"

**"Half-human and half-what?"**

"Half-bean of course," Conner said.

"Will you drop that?" Katie asked.

"No."

"I feel proud," Hermes nodded.

Artemis sighed. Boys…

_Of course._

_More rats! OW! MARTHA!_

"I'll set on them on vibrate, just keep reading," Hermes pressed a couple of buttons.

_Ow!_

_Ow!_

**"I think you know."**

**I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad.**

"Did you guys feel that too?" Percy asked.

"I always knew that my mother was a goddess, even though I didn't know which one," Verna shrugged.

"So did I," Annabeth added.

All the demigods nodded understandably.

"It took me a while to adjust, thought," Jake said, fiddling with a golden wrench.

**"God," I said. "Half-god."**

**Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."**

"Not anymore," Clovis sat up and stretched.

"You're… awake!" Drew gasped.

"That's got to be a record," Nico muttered. "Children of Morpheus are almost never awake."

"There are always children of minors gods around. Wake me up later."

….

"That was amusing," Hera said. "Maybe we should start taking more notice of minor demigods."

Hypocrite… Annabeth almost started growling.

What happened in the future so they could have cabins for minor gods? Athena thought.

**"That's ... crazy."**

**"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love**

"Not necessarily for this one," Artemis glared at Apollo.

**with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"**

"No," Hera grumbled.

**"But those are just—" I almost said **_**myths **_**again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, **_**I **_**might be considered a myth.**

"That didn't take long did it…" Percy groaned.

"But it's fun to hear your thoughts," Annabeth said.

"That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair."

"Stop it," Thalia muttered. "Your mother is about to murder Percy and Aphrodite ready to explode the palace."

"Sorry," Annabeth muttered.

Nico started reading to save them.

**"But if all the kids here are half-gods—"**

**"Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."**

**"Then who's your dad?"**

**Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject.**

"That's sexist," Artemis glared. "Boys."

**"My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."**

**"He's human."**

**"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"**

"I didn't mean it that way…"

**"Who's your mom, then?"**

**"Cabin six."**

**"Meaning?"**

**Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."**

**Okay, I thought. Why not?**

"What does that mean?" Annabeth huffed.

"I was still accepting it…"

**"And my dad?"**

**"Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."**

**"Except my mother. She knew."**

**"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."**

"This one did," Hera glared.

"She would have known without me telling her. She can see through the mist."

**"My dad would have. He loved her."**

"I still do."

**Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble.**

"I heard that too much," Annabeth said.

"But…"

"What?"

"I was right."

"Shut up."

"That's a first," Nico said.

**"Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."**

**"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"**

Percy gave the gods a pointed look. Some of them shuffled a little guiltily. Percy hoped that they would keep their promise. While he was alive at least.

Persephone, Verna thought. She wasn't sure if she had wanted Persephone to claim her before the fury incidents, but she didn't know if it had been for the better or not.

**Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy.**

Very busy, Hera glared at all the Olympians that had demigod children.

**They have a lot of kids**

Yes, Hera thought.

**and they don't always ... Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy.**

Not exactly, Travis thought sadly. Luke…

**They ignore us."**

"True enough," Percy shrugged.

**I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come.**

"You all have to claim your kids," Hermes grumbled. "It's not fair to my children and yours too."

**I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. But gods should behave better.**

"We might have a bit more freedom if someone didn't insist on it," Poseidon glared at Zeus.

**"So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"**

**"It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter,**

"Do I look like I'm related to Drew or Katie?" Percy asked.

"I was just making an example," Annabeth said. "And we're all related anyway."

**you're probably not a real powerful force.**

The two goddesses glared at Nico who shook his head.

"Not me."

"I didn't mean it that way," Annabeth sighed. "It was just… compared to the big three for example."

"Katie's a powerful force," Travis muttered to the smirking Katie.

**The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year.**

Katie smiled. She always could see her dad unlike some of the others.

**But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us.**

Or a grudge filled god could be ordering furies to come after a twelve year old girl.

**Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble—about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them.**

"Like who?" Percy asked.

"Hitler, Houdini, quite a few movie stars and people like that," Annabeth said.

**Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."**

**"So monsters can't get in here?"**

**Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."**

**"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"**

**"Practice fights. Practical jokes."**

**"Practical jokes?"**

"Why would anyone want that?" Verna said.

"The Ares' cabin and the Hermes' cabin mostly," Katie glared at the twins. "These ones summon monsters that destroy my strawberries."

"My pleasure," Travis bowed.

Never mind by what I thought that the camp was 'safe', Verna thought.

**"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."**

Katie scowled.

"Do you think that they would never stroll in and ask for some strawberries?" Conner asked.

"Er…"

**"So ... you're a year-rounder?"**

"Obviously…"  
>"How was I supposed to know that?"<p>

**Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors.**

"There's your answer."

**It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.**

**"I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."**

"That sounds like you're bragging," Percy said. "OW!"

**"Why did you come so young?"**

"Sorry about that," Percy frowned.

**She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."**

**"Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence.**

One of the beginnings of love, Drew thought dreamily. But for this pair, I imagine that it'll be difficult to break.

**"So ... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"**

**"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's**

"Don't even think about it," Zeus boomed.

**or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."**

**"Unless?"**

**"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time …"**

"You always do that. And I never understand what you're saying," Percy grumbled.

Of course, Athena thought wryly. You're a sea spawn after all.

"Because it's fun to see your confused face." Annabeth smirked.

Aphrodite almost started shrieking. "It makes me feel intelligent," Annabeth quickly added.

"Lucky you," Percy grumbled.

**Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.**

**"Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff—"**

"Nico's becoming like Percy!" Conner gasped mockingly. "He's abandoning his personality."

Nico glared at Conner. "I am not."

"Alright alright. I was just pulling your leg."

**"Ambrosia."**

**"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."**

**Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you **_**do **_**know something?"**

"That would be a first," Thalia muttered.

"Hey!"

"Percy, are you that terrible?" Poseidon asked gravely.

"What? I am not… father!"

Poseidon started chuckling. "I was joking."

Like father like son, Athena groaned inwardly.

"Everyone's picking on me," Percy muttered. "Is it Pick on Percy day?"

"Yes," His close friends said, including Nico.

"Do you really get into trouble that much?" Verna asked.

"Um… kind of."

**"Well... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"**

**She clenched her fists.**

"That sounds dangerous," Clovis murmured. "As dangerous as mom."

"For once you don't know much," Percy said. "It's kind of gratifying when that happens. Ouch!"

"That's what you get," Annabeth scowled.

**"I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs,**

"You knew, Grover?" Thalia asked.

"Nah, I was in school with Percy. I'm glad I didn't know."

**they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major.**

"Hummus," Percy snorted.

"Hubris, Percy." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "And you knew that ages ago."

**Last time I was there, everything seemed so **_**normal**_**."**

"How can you define that this place is normal?" Percy said, aghast.

"The demigod world isn't supposed to be normal."

"Oh… good point."

So she hadn't see the complete picture of Olympus yet, Verna thought. Now she wasn't exactly sure if she wanted to.

**"You've been to Olympus?"**

**"Some of us year-rounders—Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others**

"A few others," Will said indignantly.

"We're just that minor," Jake pulled out several stray springs from the box.

"I didn't mean that!"

"We're just pulling your leg, Annabeth," Jake chuckled. "I suppose Percy is rubbing off you."

"Hey!"

"Jake," Annabeth muttered. "You're going to get Percy killed."

After Jake saw Athena's face, he decided not to argue.

"Let me continue," Nico said.

—**we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."**

**"But... how did you get there?"**

**"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already.**

"How was I supposed to know that?

"Well you lived in New York… all the demigods I met that lived in New York knew that."

Well, I didn't."

**"You **_**are **_**a New Yorker, right?"**

**"Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out.**

"Sorry, that must have been really confusing, especially for you."

"Stop picking on me," Percy said.

**"Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking.**

"I like your daughter, Athena," Hermes grinned.

"She's on the hint for information," Athena snapped. "Of course she would go and find out things."

**The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble.**

"There's always trouble on Olympus," Drew yawned.

"Are you getting Clovis's powers cast on you?" Travis asked.

"Shut up!"  
>"True enough though," Percy shrugged and gave a look at Zeus who glared fiercely back.<p>

**When you came, I was hoping ... I mean— Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares.**

Ares rolled his eyes and sharpened his nails.

**And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon.**

The demigods all laughed at the pair.

"Of course," Hestia said, amused. "But you'll find out demigods are not exactly the same as their parents."

"I know," Annabeth said. "Otherwise, Percy and I would probably have hated each other to the very end."

Athena raised an eyebrow. Poseidon had a slight knowing look.

"Our quest would have failed," Percy chuckled.

"How about me?" Grover muttered.

"Of course G-man, of course."

**But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."**  
>"There are times when I do," Percy protested.<p>

"All right… sometimes," Annabeth said.

"Sometimes?"  
>"Sometimes."<p>

**I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.**

**"I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to her self. "I'm **_**not **_**too young. If they would just tell me the problem …"**

"Hubris," Annabeth muttered. "The real problem."

**I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby.**

Apollo grumbled. "When can we eat?"

"Two more chapters. Be more patient or I'll skewer you," Artemis scowled darkly.

Boys…

**Annabeth must've heard my stomach growl. She told me to go on, she'd catch me later. I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan.**

"It's my natural habit, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth rolled her eyes, blushing a bit that he caught on.

**Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around,**

Athena smiled wryly at the Poseidon reference.

**waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers.**

Katie inwardly groaned as she saw the twins glancing at each other, cracking identical grins.

**Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my Minotaur horn.**

**The counselor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek,**

Annabeth winced.

**but his smile was intact.**

**"Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."**

**I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.**

"No Hermes kid would lie about a stolen good," Travis snorted. Not even Luke, he thought.

**I said, "Thanks."**

**"No prob." Luke sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"**

**"I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."**

Eleven Olympians glared at Percy. Poseidon sighed.

"I obviously do now."

Brat, Hera thought.

**"Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."**

**The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy. He looked like he could handle just about anything.**

Hermes sighed. So it would happen… huh…

"Not everyone would have been able to handle… that." Percy muttered to Annabeth.

"It's different now, thanks to you," Annabeth smiled.

**"So your dad is Hermes?" I asked.**

**He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me,**

Hermes winced while some of the gods had a raised eyebrow.

**but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes."**

**"The wing-footed messenger guy."**

"The wing-footed messenger guy," Hermes snorted. "That is not one of my titles."

**"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality.**

"No way, we have taxes," Travis said.

"You mean you steal everything that new demigods have," Katie said.

"Sure enough."

**Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."**

Hermes winced again.

**I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind.**

True enough, Percy thought. Who knew he would have been the hero of prophecy.

**"You ever meet your dad?" I asked.**

**"Once."**

And I've probably met my dad the most, Percy thought. He always has helped me too.

**I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got his scar.**

Yes, Annabeth thought.

Yes, Hermes thought wearily.

Hera felt confused, then extremely irritated. This was the main reason why she couldn't understand demigods or mortals. No children allowed.

**He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him—even if he was a counselor—should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me.**

At least he's humble, Athena thought warily. Plenty of demigods had had too much pride… which led to their deaths.

Annabeth shook her head.

**But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries,**

Katie smacked Travis's head. "Don't you dare."

"Dare what?"

**which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day.**

**I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth ... twice, she said I might be 'the one.'**

"Which one does it mean?" Aphrodite grinned eagerly.

Percy turned red.

Athena's face turned completely blank while Poseidon tried not to laugh.

"SO YOU GUYS ARE REALLY—"

"Lady Aphrodite," Grover said quickly. "By all the greatest respect, I'm sure that a daughter of Athena would never go out with a son of Poseidon."

"But it could be like the demigod version of Romeo and Juliet!"

"My daughter will not sink so low," Athena muttered. "No she will not."

**She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"**

**Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."**

"Rachel would be offended," Percy said. "And I thought she was supposed to have fall break and come back to camp."

"No, her fall break is a bit late," Annabeth said. "Maybe Apollo will have a way to send her."

Hermes' son has an issue, Hera thought. Now if I was his mother…

She hadn't realized she had been muttering aloud. Zeus shuddered. Gods forbid.

**"What do you mean?"**

**His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour,**

"Sour apples," Clovis murmured.

**Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests.**

"Did that end up to be a good thing?" Verna asked quietly, adjusting her cap.

Nico stared at that for a second, then blinked.

"I'm not sure," Annabeth said. "It depends on how bad things were. Chiron is right most of the time so it probably was the best decision."

**Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron**

"Hmph," Annabeth huffed.

"Pestered sounds right," Percy said and caught her punch. "Ouch!"

"Knocked out sounds right," Annabeth said, redrawing her other hand.

That's my daughter, Athena thought proudly. Vanquishing seaweed idiots properly.

**so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing,**

"That really probably was for the best," Annabeth said. "I would have likely misinterpreted the prophecy…"

I did, she thought. She would never ever do the same thing she did by looking in the pouch of the mummy.

**but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until...somebody special came to the camp."**

All the demigods laughed as softly as they could.

"And it meant both," Thalia grinned to Annabeth. "And you can't punch me for it because it was true."

"Fine," Annabeth grumbled.

"That special could mean the one I'm thinking about!" Aphrodite shrieked.

"My dear Aphrodite," Ares rubbed his ears. Hephaestus shrugged.

Athena's face went stiff.

"It's most likely the prophecy we're talking about."

"Whatever you say Athena," Apollo grinned. "It's possible for anything."

Hermes started to grin again.

"Just the boy read," Hades rolled his eyes.

"You said boy, not brat!" Apollo mock-gasped.

"It… it doesn't necessarily mean that I need to be insulted every time I say something more polite, does it," Hades glared at him. The camera and Apollo winced.

Dad knows I'm his son, Nico thought. Who knows what could happen now.

**"Somebody special?"**

Travis and Conner grinned.

**"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for.**

"That sounds more like a curse," Will said.

"In some ways it kind of was," Percy answered.

**Now, come on, its dinnertime."**

Apollo started grumbling.

**The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell,**

"And it's in the blood," Hades glared at Poseidon.

Zeus grumbled.

**even though I'd never heard one before.**

**Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"**

**The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal**

"What do you mean by normal?" Artemis asked.

"I… I mean… you'll see in the next sentence."

Nico hesitated.

"Nico!"

"I know, I know. I'm not going to have a vaporized cousin anytime soon."

**in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.**

"That's alright then," Artemis said.

"My cabin's better," Apollo muttered.

An arrow was found exactly next to Apollo's ear.

"My cabin's better," Artemis declared.

Mine's better, Apollo patted the camera. The camera nodded voluntarily.

"I like staying there," Thalia whispered to Annabeth. "Better being in the Zeus cabin all alone anyway."

"It does seem quite nice." Annabeth admitted. "With all the moonbeam and elegant architecture structure."

"I like my cabin the best," Percy piped in.

"Of course you do, Seaweed Brain. Of course you do."

"…Okay?"

"…Never mind."

**We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. **

"And now I'm leading them!" Grover hummed. Percy tried not to laugh.

**Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake.**

Verna smiled. The naiads had taught her lots of nature magic and told her many useful things. She was quite certain that some nymphs had saved her during the journey to camp. After thinking this for a long moment, she felt an unusual headache coming on. She fiddled with the front of her floppy cap.

Apollo, Hermes and Dionysus signed in unison until Zeus gave them his thundering look.

Artemis gave a bored look while Athena shook her head disapprovingly.

**A few other girls came out of the woods— and when I say out of the woods, I mean **_**straight **_**out of the woods.**

Annabeth sighed.

"What?" Percy said indignantly.

"Never mind. It's just… just like you to say that."

"What Wise Girl, I'm not going anywhere."

"I know I know."

Who says, Hera thought. If this sea spawn really was a capable demigod, she might have to go with her plan.

**I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill.**

Mollie, Verna thought. That nymph was really as a cheeky as her looks and age.

Dionysus gave a long sigh. "My little affair…"  
>Zeus's face grew dark and long.<p>

"Your affair with that nymph resulted in your confinement. Do I need to say any more?"

The demigods choked.

"That was the nymph!" Percy gasped.

A form of incest, Drew shuddered. Definitely not her type of thing. Even if the nymph was older than she looked… no. Just no.

Gods sure worked differently, Verna thought. After all, her mother and Hades got married. Niece and uncle… a very incestuous combination. But still. God stuff.

"Um… Nico? Can you please read on?" Annabeth asked, giving a look at the stiffened Percy.

Nico had had been exposed to more mythology than the others, even Annabeth. Since he was an expert (Mythomagic) and he had explored more, he had been used to things like this. Seeing the other demigods faces (especially Percy) was very entertaining. He was surprised that Verna wasn't as shocked. But then, their parents were indeed one incestuous couple.

"Boys," Artemis muttered.

"Brats," Hera grumbled.

Idiots, Athena thought.

"Rigormortis," Annabeth muttered at Percy.

**In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.**

**At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub.**

Athena rolled her eyes at the water reference.

**Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple.**

That sounds more Roman, Athena thought. Maybe I send a message to Chiron about it… just in case.

**Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.**

Nico winced and had read this quickly, in fear of the twins.

"OH HO HO!" Travis roared in laughter.

Uh oh, Nico thought.

Hermes grinned. "Some literal thoughts, Percy."  
>Percy turned red, "I was thinking them…"<p>

"Exactly," Annabeth sighed exasperatedly. "But it's quite fun listening to your thoughts. And wipe of those grins, you two. You know perfectly what I mean."

"This is uncalled for!" Percy protested.

"But you're not the only one who should be teased," Travis grinned, turning to Nico.

Nico quickly put the book over his face for two reasons. The color of his face and going back to reading.

Verna chuckled softly.

**I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.**

**Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair.**

"It's a serious problem Athena!" Aphrodite frowned.

"For what?" Athena said, startled.

"Your children are lookers… yet they have such little interest in my department! It's such a waste!"

"…And what am I supposed to say to that?"

"Anything!"

"…I'm sure they're wise enough to decide these matters by themselves."

"Of course," Percy muttered, grinning to Annabeth. "Very wise."

"Don't get such a big head Percy."

"Alright, alright."

**Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.**

Clarisse crossed her arms and lifted her chin up. Even though Percy was indeed a Prissy, she did have a grudging respect for him.

"Not the reaction I was expecting," Percy said.

At least she has some restraints on emotions, Athena thought. Unlike this complete blockhead of her father.

**Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"**

"Hooray! We can finally eat!" Apollo cheered.

"Two more chapters Apollo," Artemis said.

"I meant in the book," Apollo pouted.

"Two more chapters."

**Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"**

"To us!" Apollo cheered with the camera.

**Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue!**

"You have a knack for torture Percy," Nico said. "Apollo looks like he's about to pass out."

"**My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want—nonalcoholic, of course."**

"Of course," Dionysus scowled. "No one. NO ONE. Drinks alcohol in my presence."

"Provided that you aren't drinking some yourself," Zeus boomed.

Dionysus scowled deeper.

"I was twelve," Percy said. "I think that was the reason. And why would I have wanted to drink wine then?"

"Because you wanted to annoy Mr. D?" Annabeth suggested.

Percy chuckled, "That's possible. But I don't think it'll be worth the tipsiness."

"No Travis!" Katie rolled her eyes. "That's not a cue for you to start thinking about pranks."

"Me? NEVER!"

"…Right."

"Are you asking for S&M?" Conner muttered.

"Shut. Up."

**I said, "Cherry Coke."**

"Getting a sugar high for a person with ADHD is not good," Annabeth exclaimed.

"What do you usually have then?"  
>"Oh… good point."<p>

"No junk food besides that in camp," Travis sighed. "Such a waste."

**The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.**

**Then I had an idea. "**_**Blue **_**Cherry Coke."**

"Naturally," Demeter muttered. "If only some intelligent mortal could create some sort of substance of cereal into a drink… that would be wonderful."  
>Gods forbid, Hades thought. If that happened, he would curse the mortal.<p>

**The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt.**

"Poison statistics," Clovis mumbled.

**I took a cautious sip. Perfect.**

**I drank a toast to my mother.**

**She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real place, then someday...**

"Yes," Hades grinned darkly. "It's very much real."

"The delusional one in the family," Zeus muttered.

"The dramatic one in the family," Hades rolled his eyes.

"EXCUSE ME?"

"It's the truth."

"Will the both of you kindly shut up?" Hera asked.  
>"Yes dear," Zeus murmured.<p>

"As if," Hades muttered, but he did shut up.

Nico sighed. Even though his mother had been captured alive and not killed, he still felt envious at Percy getting his mother back when he couldn't get Bianca.

Verna was now confused. Why hadn't she felt any real vengeance for the furies when she met them again in the Underworld? She knew very clearly that they had killed her father. But… after the furies had stormed her home by fury, everything about how she went to camp was blurry. And now she had headaches again.

**"Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket.**

"Two more chapters Apollo…"

"I know, I know!"

Thalia couldn't help grinning. They would never change.

**I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion.**

"Are you asking to be killed by the gods?" Athena rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't vaporize Percy," Poseidon said.

**I wondered if they were going for dessert or something.**

"That would be nice if we could have dessert," Conner sighed.

"You'll get fat," Katie said.

"When we train every day? As if!"

**"Come on," Luke told me.**

**As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry,**

"Which Travis won't pick," Conner muttered.

"…What…! Shut up."

"Staring across the strawberry fields like a stalker isn't going to do you any good."

Katie did not hear every word they said, but she knew them well enough to know that anything they said was generally not so good.

"Nico, please read over these idiots," Katie said.  
>"Hey!" the both of them protested.<p>

**the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.**

Apollo started groaning. If only he could magically make food appear in the throne room. Besides the fact that Hera would kill him that is.

**Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."**

**"You're kidding."**

**His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food.**

"That does sound rather odd," Annabeth admitted. "But it doesn't smell like that to them."

"It's just how it works. But…" Apollo muttered.

"Yes?" Artemis asked warily.

"And now I'm hungrier."

"I'll make whip up something later," Hestia smiled.

"Yeah! Go Aunt Hestia!"

"Right," Percy scratched her head at the twelve year old looking goddess.

**Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."**

"Hooray!" Hermes cheered.

Apollo was groaning, "That is so not fair."

**I was next.**

**I wished I knew what god's name to say.**

"Should be soon," Poseidon said. "I probably want to give you a flashy claiming… in some fashion."

"And you say that I'm the dramatic one in the family?" Zeus rolled his eyes.

"Well, more than me any way."

**Finally, I made a silent plea. **_**Whoever you are, tell me. Please.**_

At least he's polite, Athena looked at Ares who was flicking his nails on a knife.

**I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames.**

"Briskets are yummy,

But I can't have any now,

This is so galling."

Artemis notched a silver arrow.

"There one was a goddess from Sparta—"

Ping!

"…Ouch?"

"What happened to not fighting?" Hera snapped.

"Technically it's not killing the demigods," Hermes hummed.

"Go dad!" Conner whooped.

**When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag.**

Hestia smiled. She got a share of every offering.

**It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did.**

"Basically stuff you like," Annabeth said.

Percy shrugged.

**I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.**

"Well, specifically we won't die without it, but we'd been in extreme pain without nourishment." Athena explained. Ares yawned and Dionysus flipped his wine magazine. Athena glared at them.

"Then what happens to gods without kids?" Katie asked.

"They eat food directly," Hera scowled. The only problem being a goddess of marriage. No sacrifices.

Thalia scowled.

**When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.**

**Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."**

**A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.**

Clarisse glared at Percy. "Excuse me?"

Percy shrugged and chuckled.

Ares glared. This brat…

**"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations.**

Verna thought that if Mr. D really disliked them he would never have said those words. She couldn't help smiling a bit.

**Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."**

"Again?" Demeter sniffed in annoyance.

"It's my specialty. Don't procrastinate."

"You are asking for my cereal aren't you?"

"…"

"Gods forbid," Nico muttered and shuddered. The visit before the one he went with Verna was not so good.

Zeus frowned, but he really couldn't change Dionysus's personality. At least he wasn't killing them.

**Chiron murmured something.**

**"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."**

Dionysus smirked.

**Everybody cheered.**

"Not letting the drunk bringing you guys done, huh?" Hephaestus eyed Dionysus wearily. His last drunken rampage over Olympus still had lingering effects.

**We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.**

Nico paused slightly. After the war, that much was true.

**Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag.**

**My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn.**

"Surprise, surprise," Katie looked at the twins. They didn't steal any of his… yet.

**I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite.**

Percy smiled. Still the same even when he was a teenager.

Hypocrite, all the stepchildren of Hera thought as they looked at her.

**When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly.**

**That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood.**

**I wish I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.**

"That doesn't sound good," A voice from above said.

Everyone snapped their heads up to the voice.

"What is that girl doing on my ceiling?" Hera almost shrieked.

Who is it? Wait and see~


End file.
